The Terrifying Job
by Purple-Rose-Ninja
Summary: Fifteen year old Soru gets a job for one month at an October carnival as a tour guide for the "House of Spook". But at night, one of the wax dummies comes alive...and he's a vampire. What is she to do? AU. GaaraxOC Please look at the author's notes.
1. It All Started With A Job

CHAPTER ONE

**Me: This story inspired by J.B. Stamper's 'House of Horrors'. This is my first Naruto fanfic, so yeah. Enjoy! **

**Disclaimer: Of course I do not own any Naruto characters mentioned in the story…or Konoha. –Masashi Kishimoto dangles Naruto above my head- Stop that! Gimme!**

**Summary: A fifteen year old girl is forced to work at an October carnival for a month as a tour guide for the "House of Spook". What she and her co-workers don't know is…one of the wax dummies shows interest in her and refuses to stay put.**

**CHAPTER ONE**

_"Soru, I got you a job."_

_"Really?! Oh, thank you so much, dad! Where is it? What is it?! Ooh, I'm so excited!"_

_"Oh, it's quite far back in the woods-"_

_"The woods?..."_

_"Don't interrupt. Now, you'll be working as a tour guide at the carnival that's going to be set up. It'll only be here for a month, this October, and I know you have a job working at that sushi bar, but it's not good enough. This one will give you a decent pay."_

_"Dad, it's-"_

_"Yes, Soru, it's in the woods, I know. I know you don't like the woods, but I've told you time and time again, there's nothing to fear, I promise you, it's not haunted. And besides, there will be lots of other people there, too, co-workers, tourists. Plus, you get free popcorn!"_

_"Oh, joy, popcorn. Fluffy, buttery little pieces of corn that will definitely save me from the ghosts."_

_"Listen here, missy. I got you a job, and it seems you're ungrateful. You can either take the job, or I'll tell them that you wont be working there, and you can go work in that dump of a sushi bar with that girl you hate ever so much….Matsi…Matsu…"_

_"NO! Spare me! I'll take the job, anything to get away from Matsuri! I love you dad, thank you!"_

_"Matsuri, that's her name! Anyways, I knew you'd see it my way."_

_"Yeah, I guess it wont be that bad…I hope…"_

_"That's the spirit!"_

"What have I gotten myself into?!"

Day 1

The conversation had taken place only two months ago, but Soru felt as if it were a week ago. The past two months had flown by way too fast, and now here she was, on the first evening of October, walking down the pathway that led deeper into the woods near her hometown of Konoha, ready to sacrifice herself to the carnies.

'_Okay_,' she thought to herself, '_Maybe if I list the things I like and don't like_ _about this, I'll feel better. Yeah, like writing it in a journal_!'

'_Okay, bad stuff first._'

'_Number one: It's in the creepy woods._'

'_Number two: I always hated carnivals_.'

'_Number three: If a clown comes within a hundred feet of me, I'll sock him in the face…_'

'_Number four: If my friends find out about this, my dignity will be gone forever._'

'_Okay, good stuff_.'

'_Number one: There'll be a lot of people there._'

'_Number two: Free popcorn_.'

'_Number three: I'll get away from Matsuri for a month._'

'_Number four:……………….uh?._'

'_Alright, one more bad thing. Number five: The bad outnumbers the good. I'm officially_ _doomed. Please, God, just strike me down now._'

Okay, so, things weren't looking too bright at the moment, and Soru was on the edge of having a nervous breakdown. She played with a lock of her shoulder blade-length dark brown hair, and chewed on her lip. Bad habits of nervousness that she'd had for a long time.

Time went on, and the more she walked, the jumpier and more nervous she got, crying out at every sound and practically shrieking when a squirrel ran across her path. She glanced back and forth through the tall trees, thinking of nothing but ghosts, which was a fear of hers since as long as she could remember. That and clowns. She was so terrified after around thirty minutes, that the poor girl never saw it coming as she turned and came face to face with a huge neon sign. She screamed and fell to the ground, heart racing, threatening to beat right out of her chest.

It wasn't until she heard a familiar voice that she looked up, and saw to her horror, a fellow classmate and best bud of hers, Naruto Uzumaki. He was running towards her, waving a hand high above his head and wearing a concerned expression on his face.

But she realized that this was, in fact, not Naruto. No, their voices just sounded the same. The person running at her was as far from Naruto as you could get. He normally wore something bright and sunny, and his hair was the brightest blonde you'd ever see. But this boy was wearing a black suit, and a black cape to match. His hair was black as night, not yellow blonde. He reminded her of something, and it hit her.

_Vampire._

Sure, his eyes were the same blue as Naruto's, sure he was as tall as Naruto, sure he had those same familiar yet strange lines on his round cheeks, but this was _not_ Naruto.

Soru leapt up from the ground before the boy could reach her, and was about to shout at him to stay away, but he yelled to her first, "Hey Soru, I can't believe you're working here! Sasuke told me you were, but I didn't believe him, you know how he is. Guess what, he's working here, too!" He stopped right in front of her, and in the same loud voice, told her, "Look at my hair! Surprised you, hunh?! Isn't it neat?! I had it dyed for the month!"

Omigosh, it _was _Naruto. He was just dressed up and his hair was just dyed. Soru felt like kicking her own butt for thinking he was…supernatural.

"Heh, uh, yeah, I'm working here too. Er, Sasuke is?" she said dumbly, and chalked up another reason to kick her own butt. Why did she have to sound so stupid? Why?

"Yeah, sucks, huh? His mom signed him up, he said something about being too lazy. Sounds like Shikamaru, doesn't he?" he laughed. Soru grinned at him, her normal, hyperactive self returning. That's what had made it so easy for her and Naruto to be such good friends. Hyperactivity. Couldn't live without it, they said.

"Hah, yeah, my dad signed me up because he had the chance, and he hates my current job at the sushi bar." Soru said, and Naruto tilted his head, something he'd learned from the girl standing in front of him.

"The sushi bar on that street where the shop is that sells antiques?" he asked.

"The very one. Anyways, so duck-butt-head is working here as well?" Soru asked him.

"Yeah, he and I are tour guides for that cool 'House of Spook'. Corny name, right? So where are you working?" he confirmed.

"I'm a tour guide, too! Ooh, this is so neat! You and I are co-workers! Too bad Sasuke will ruin it." Soru replied.

"Still, maybe we can manage to avoid him. We work shifts, as in, one of us takes a group through, then the next person takes the next group, then the next person, and start over again with the first person and all that. That's what our boss said." Naruto informed her.

"Yeah, so what's our boss' name?"

"She told us we're supposed to call her Ms. Mitarashi. Her first name's Anko, but she'll kill you if you call her that. I tried it…"

Soru laughed, all thoughts of the creepy woods gone, as if her laughing had filtered her fear out. Poor Naruto, unlucky as always. She observed his attire, and then questioned, "Do I get cool vampire clothes too?"

Naruto's turn to laugh. "Vampire clothes? I guess they look like vampires would wear them. Yeah, you'll get some too, I think. While we're talking about the job, why don't we make our way over to the," he put on a face he assumed was scary, and said in an unnatural, deep voice, "'House of Spook'?"

Soru laughed until her stomach hurt as he did silly impressions of retarded vampires as they strolled through the darkly colored tents.

"Will I have to dye my hair, too?" she asked with a hint of worry in her voice. She'd always liked the color of her hair, and thought that black would just be too overwhelming with her pale complexion.

Naruto examined her hair with a peculiar expression, finally saying, "Nah, we'll be working when it's pretty much all dark, and your hair's dark enough that I don't think it'll need it. Heh, you can pretty much guess that mine was way too light."

Soru agreed, and the two eventually arrived in front of building they'd be working in. It was a big mansion that seemed like it would take an hour to guide people through. Not only that, but some might even want to take pictures and lag behind. Naruto noticed his friend's face, and grinned at her horror.

"Don't worry, Soru, we'll only show the first few main rooms. We won't have to go too far into it." He reassured her. Soru returned his grin, but inside, she was still scared. Not because of its size, but what might be in it. It looked like the perfect place to be haunted by mean old ghosts that had nothing better to do than terrorize unsuspecting human beings.

"Erm, what's in it?" Soru asked before she could stop herself, and Naruto answered, "Oh, just a bunch of old furniture and wax figures. Wax, not real. But I have to say, whoever made them knew what they were doing. They look so lifelike."

The fifteen year old girl stared at the house, wondering how a boy who was only a few months older than her could resist the terror of _wax_. Another stupid fear of hers…wax dummies. Naruto was right, every wax figure she'd ever seen had appeared so real, and it frightened her to think of being forced to give tours near these…these…these things!

"Uh, what are the wax figures doing?" she asked, and Naruto gave her a what-do-you-think-they're-doing look.

"You know, Soru. The usual things wax figures do, sit and stay still and amuse people." He told her as if explaining to a five year old what grass did. Soru glared at him and snorted.

"You know what I meant!"

Naruto laughed and said, "Sorry, had to say it. Um, well, they pretty much look like what you'd see in a horror movie. Death scenes, torture scenes, stuff that scares the crap outta people, stuff that belongs in a…" cue the deep voice, " 'Houthe of Thpook'!" adding a lisp at the end, resulting in making Soru laugh once more.

Suddenly, a woman's voice cut through the air, making the two jump. "HEY! Get in here! The carnival opens in twenty minutes!"

Soru looked at the entrance of the house to see a miffed looking woman with dark purple hair pulled up into a spiky bun at the back of her head, Ms. Mitarashi, she guessed. Ms. Mitarashi wore a simple black dress that fit her curvy body perfectly that Soru felt jealous of.

She approached her boss quickly, but with caution, realizing that this wasn't a person she wanted to get on the bad side of. Ms. Mitarashi gazed at her with a no-nonsense look, and Soru introduced herself quietly.

"Erm, Ms. Mitarashi? I'm Soru Umitaka, and my dad applied for a job for me here."

"Speak up girl, the customers wont be able to hear you if you're so damn quiet all the time!" Ms. Mitarashi commanded, which struck a nerve.

'_Quiet? I'll show you quiet!_'

Soru scowled and shouted, "Fine, I will Ms. ANKO!!"

As soon as she let this out of her mouth, she regretted it instantly. She tried not to wither under the piercing, furious glare that she was receiving, and decided that angering her boss on the first day was…really bad.

So she did what she normally did. Jumped from the frying pan into the fire.

"Guess I'm not allowed to say that, hunh? Naruto said not to, but I guess I'm ignorant!" she said.

Ms. Mitarashi looked a little taken aback, but still glared on. Soru foolishly decided to glare right back, and Naruto cowered a few feet away. Then, all of a sudden, Ms. Mitarashi laughed. Downright _laughed_. Now Soru was scared, one word going through her mind.

'_What?..._'

The woman patted her on the shoulder none too gently and barked, "You've got nerve, girl! More nerve than a lot of people! I'll give you that, but understand that I am your boss and you will _respect me_. Is that clear?!"

Soru nodded and said, "Yes, ma'am, very clear."

Ms. Mitarashi took her hand off of Soru's shoulder, and said, "Well, go find her an outfit, Naruto and give her the lowdown of the place. Time's a-wastin' people!! Let's get cracking!!"

Naruto dragged Soru away quickly, who remarked, "Ya know, Naruto, she reminds me a lot of you, except more…aggressive."

He gave her a bewildered look, and shook his head at her, leading her into the mansion.

Once inside, before them was a large wooden staircase, the passageway to the left leading into a sitting room where Soru could already see the wax dummies, fixed in awkward positions on the couches, while the right passage led into a more businesslike room, which was cut off by a rope which could be unhooked, a sign that said 'Employees Only' hanging from it.

That was the room Soru followed Naruto into, feeling a little relieved at not having to go into the wax dummies' domain just yet. He pulled a curtain across the doorway, blocking the view of anyone outside the room. He then led Soru to a rack from which several black outfits hung.

It consisted mostly of all black dresses for girls, and all black suits for boys, of all different sizes. Soru found a dress that looked just her size and told Naruto to leave while she changed. He left and she took off her regular clothes, slipping on the dress. It rested on her figure gently, which was only gently curved, but not as curved as Ms. Mitarahsi's like she now wished.

She found that it fit very well, but felt quite self-conscious. She never wore tight clothes of any sort, and while the dress wasn't very tight, it still hugged her waist a little more than she liked.

She examined herself in the full length mirror that hung on the wall. The neck of the dress dipped low enough to only show her collar bone, but that was it. At the middle of the neck was a red, egg shaped rhinestone surrounded in golden plastic, a nice touch to the dress. The hem was slightly ripped up, but she could tell it was on purpose.

Soru wanted to find a bigger one, but this one's hem reached her ankles, and the next longest that she found would have touched the floor. It would have to work. She folded her t-shirt and jeans up, and exited the room to tell Naruto she was ready.

He looked at her and nodded approvingly, a slight tinge of pink touching his cheeks. "It looks pretty on you." He said, "But you need shoes and a cape."

He once again dragged Soru into the room and let her find the right size shoes and cape, and it was not necessary for him to leave, so he helped her out. The boys' shoes were ordinary black tennis shoes, but the girls were delicate, slipper-like shoes with little red rhinestones running along the toes. They found a pair that fit, then came the cape.

Once they were through, Soru admired herself in the mirror, satisfied that she had a cape to hide her body. But Naruto told her that it was obligatory to keep it open, something about Ms. Mitarashi saying to.

They had only five more minutes until carnival opening, and the sun was setting. Naruto decided to give her a tour of the house for her, first going into the living room. A fireplace, some couches, a table, and a large clock above the fireplace's mantle decorated the spacious area. Soru glanced at the clock and saw it was 7:25. Only a little longer, and she too would be doing this for larger groups of people.

Naruto showed her from there a kitchen, dining room, and ballroom on the first floor, then led her up the stairs. Just a bedroom, a bathroom, and a sitting room, then the basement, turned dungeon. Last but not least was the library, where one certain wax dummy caught her eye.

Every wax dummy scared Soru, all of them just as bloody and punctured as the last. Soon enough, the time came for the two to have to leave and report for the job. When they passed the living room, Soru's mind flicked back to the interesting wax dummy in the library, the most fascinating of them all. Interesting because he was the only one unharmed or marred in any fashion. He had blood red hair, an outfit similar to the ones in the room in the entranceway, and dark black rings around his icy blue eyes. Naruto told her the story she was supposed to tell the visitors about him.

He was called Gaara. He was a vampire that had led all wax dummies to their deaths. Poisoned the dummies' food in the dining room, stabbed the wax dummy chef with knife in the kitchen, drank all the blood of the wax dummies in the living and sitting rooms, then randomly killed all the other wax dummies in the house with random sharp objects that belonged in the particular room, such as the shard of glass from the mirror in the bathroom. She was also supposed to ask why he didn't just drink all the other peoples' blood, why only the living and sitting room ones. Because, she was supposed to answer, why don't normal people about his size finish five hamburgers? He had to get full at some point.

So he killed the rest, not letting them escape and tell their friends the horrors of the house. It was a chilling tale, but Soru still couldn't help but be charmed by "Gaara's" looks. The wax dummy people had really outdone themselves with him. He was the most realistic of them all!

Soru just shook her head. '_Yes, let's fall in love with the wax dummy. Maybe_ _you_ _can ask Ms. Mitarashi if you can marry him…_'

As she thought this, she and Naruto made their way out the doors, and waited for the first tourist group to come up.

**Soru's POV**

While we were waiting, a voice drifted over to us, "So, Dobe One and Dobe Two wait side by side for the first victims."

Naruto and I whirled around to see Sasuke sauntering towards us, looking smug. I scowled and Naruto said, "Come on, teme! The carnival's already open, and we have to wait here for the tourists!"

Sasuke just scoffed, but came over and stood to my right, Naruto to my left. Which meant that I was second in line to be a tour guide. Which scared me out of my wits.

"Sasuke?" I said, trying to be as polite as possible to the guy I sorely disliked, "Um, can you and me maybe trade places?"

He gave me mocking sneer and asked, "What, is Dobe Two scared?"

I reluctantly nodded, keeping my temper under control, "I've never done this before, and I'm nervous."

I could tell he was a little surprised by my admittance of being afraid, but still smirked as if he knew everything…which he totally didn't!

"Nah, I think it's better if you get if over with if you're so scared." He mocked cruelly, leaving me to my fate of being second, and so there I stood, the butterflies in my stomach forming into full fledged hawks.

Eventually, a group of giggly girls and smug looking boys made their way over, examining the house…er, mansion. Naruto led them inside, acting dramatic as he went, earning a couple of giddy giggles from the girls.

"Ugh," groaned Sasuke, "We have to deal with that?"

"Know what, Sasuke," I replied, "I have to agree with you for once. We are going to die."

Another group of about seven people came over, again with giggly girls and boys who were trying to impress them by saying how cheesy it all looked. This sort of offended me, for I had already gained respect for the mansion which my job would take place in, and forced a smile onto my face.

I turned to Sasuke and whispered, "Does this smile look too fake?"

He nodded.

"Damn," I cursed, then faced my doom.

"Hey, so, like, can we, like, go in or not?" asked one of the girls obnoxiously. I really hoped that they didn't see the way my eye twitched, and I told them, "There's already a group in there at the moment, you'll have to wait." I also hoped that they didn't see through my purposely lowered voice.

"That, like, sucks!" said the same girl, and I gave her a sickly sweet smile. But they waited anyway, and Naruto and his group came out shortly. The girls looked terrified, and the boys were talking about how cool it was, but I could see past their acts. They had been just as scared as the girls.

"Time for me to show you lucky people the horrors of the House of Spook." I said, lowering the lids of my eyes a little, and smiling just a little more, trying to give off an air of mystery.

I beckoned them in with a flick of the wrist, and when they were all in, I closed the door a little loudly behind them. Some girls jumped, and one emitted a squeak. I smirked to myself. Wimps. But then again, I'd probably not be much better.

"Follow me." I told them, and veered to the left.

"Hey, walk a little faster, girly!" One of the boys commanded, and I turned back to him. I was angry enough to keep my face straight, and silenced him with a calm look, just by making my face emotionless, and focusing on fixing all my anger and emotion into my eyes, not blinking. His smug smile faded, and I turned, trying not to smile myself, and right as we stepped into the room, a girl shrieked her head off.

That's how it went throughout the whole tour. Girls scream at wax dummies, boys try to act tough. On and on. It had to end though, and I realized I was a little disappointed when it did. It was actually quite fun, scaring the crap out of people. Plus, I was happy to see my beloved "Gaara" again. I could just stare at him all day.

Though when I looked at him, it almost seemed as if he'd turned a little, but I dismissed it as one of Naruto's group bumping into him. As I let my own group out of the mansion, I imagined a young girl colliding with him and fainting dead away, forcing me to hold in a laugh.

So the night went on, the three of us giving tours, each one more amusing than the last. Naruto and I came up with the game of counting how many people screamed in our tours, and at the end, around 11:00, we tallied up near thirty for him, and twenty eight for me. I'm still convinced that he cheated.

Afterwards, I was double checking everything in the mansion, now comfortable in it since I'd been through several times, making sure everything was in place. I visited the library one last time to check in on "Gaara". Again, it seemed as if he'd moved, instead of looking out to the desk where a person lay stabbed with a dagger, he now faced a little more towards the doorway, almost all the way at me. I entered the room, deciding to fix him. But when I placed my hands on his upper arms and shoved, he wouldn't budge. I closed my eyes and gritted my teeth, yet he refused to move.

"Damnit, Gaara!" I growled, "You're not supposed to be like this! MOVE!" Then I made the mistake of looking back at his face. His eyes…were turned downward….at me….looking into my own green eyes. I gasped and jumped back, but his eyes stayed the same, pointed at the floor now that I'd gone from his field of vision. I gulped. His head had not moved, just his eyes.

'Come on, Soru. Think. They've probably been like that the whole time, and you've probably not realized it. Heh.' Satisfied with this explanation, I nodded, when suddenly…

"What're you doing, Dobe Two?" came Sasuke's voice behind me, making me jump. I faced him, scowling.

"Idiot, I was trying to fix Gaara!" I cried, gesturing at the handsome wax dummy. Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"Already tried it. He won't move. We'll try it tomorrow morning, 'kay? Anyway, just wanted to know, but are you gonna be at the party?" he asked. I tilted my head.

"Party?"

Sasuke smirked.

"Yeah, Naruto, me, an' some other carnival employees are throwing one."

I blinked, signifying my cluelessness. Sasuke sighed exasperatedly.

"Be here, eleven-thirty, alright? Ms. Mitarashi probably won't approve of the whole thing, so hide behind a curtain or something when she comes and double checks the place. I'll come find you when she's left we're ready." He informed me, then curtly turned and walked off.

"Thanks!" I called after him, surprised at this sudden kindness. I realized that I might worry my dad, but this party was worth it. I did what Sasuke said, and hid behind the curtain of the living room, and sure enough, Ms. Mitarashi came it, checking on everything like I had, and left after a while.

Thirty minutes later, I emerged from the curtain, figuring out that Sasuke had tricked me. All sorts of terrible names flew through my head, calling him everything in the book I stomped to the door, but when I tried to open it, I found that I couldn't.

I was locked in the House of Spook for the night.

Now I was scared, wondering what in the heck I was supposed to do, and realized that I had no choice but to sleep here, and apologize profusely to my parents in the morning. I figured that I'd sleep in the library, near my dearest wax dummy.

I made my way through the other rooms, making sure not to look at the wax dummies, which seemed to tease me: 'Haha, you're trapped with us now!'

The library was cold, and I pulled the cloak around me, shutting the door behind me as I entered. I turned to face the room, taking a few steps, and when I looked around…horror flooded my mind.

Where….was……Gaara?

My breath quickened. I felt my face grow cold, and I knew I had paled. And when I heard footsteps behind me, I bit down a scream.

Moments of silence, then, "What are you doing here? You're not supposed to be in here right now." Came a raspy, but husky voice from the direction of where the footsteps came, melting my heart. I was still frozen, and had to come to my senses to force myself to move. I immediately regretted ever doing so as I turned to see…him. Gaara. Looking down at me with an expressionless face. I didn't know what to do or think. Was this a trick? A part of Sasuke's plan?? Oh, someone help me out here!

I swallowed hard, retorting shakily, "And….and you're supposed to…not move. You're supposed to be, uh, made of wax."

Gaara nodded bemusedly, nothing in his face changing, but I could see the humor dancing in the blue pools of his eyes.

He reached out with a pale hand, and lifted my chin up a little with one cold finger so that my face was directed more towards his. His long talon-like fingernail pricked the skin under my chin, and I was worried that it would cut me.

"I suppose so. Well, it appears that I'm not, now am I?"

**Me: Whatcha think? Needs more detail? Did I make any mistakes? Have any suggestions? Please review! Constructive criticisms and anonymous reviews very welcome! NO FLAMES PLEASE.**

**(Please understand that I'm working on another fic, so be patient. Updates may take awhile, but I promise never to drop the story!)**


	2. The Encounter,the School, and the Naruto

**Me: Rar! Here I am with an update! Find out what happens to poor Soru! **

**(You already know that I don't own Naruto, so here's a disclaimer for the lyrics to Comatose. Those are copyright of Skillet. Kay? Good.)**

**--**

_Moments of silence, then, "What are you doing here? You're not supposed to be in here right now." Came a raspy, but husky voice from the direction of where the footsteps came, melting my heart. I was still frozen, and had to come to my senses to force myself to move. I immediately regretted ever doing so as I turned to see…him. Gaara. Looking down at me with an expressionless face. His face was so calm, and the calmness frightened me._

_I didn't know what to do or think. Was this a trick? A part of Sasuke's plan?? Oh, someone help me out here!_

_I swallowed hard, retorting shakily, "And….and you're supposed to…not move. You're supposed to be, uh, made of wax." _

_Gaara nodded bemusedly, nothing in his face changing, but I could see the humor dancing in the blue pools of his eyes._

_He reached out with a pale hand, and lifted my chin up a little with one cold finger so that my face was directed more towards his. His long talon-like fingernail pricked the skin under my chin, and I was worried that it would cut me._

_"I suppose so. Well, it appears that I'm not, now am I?"_

_--_

**Soru's POV**

Scared? A little. Confused? You bet. Drooling over the totally gorgeous supposed wax dummy in front of me? OH YEAH.

I really couldn't decide what I was supposed to think actually. Was I afraid or not? A vampire, who was more or less…er, real was standing in front of me, maybe just as confused as me. He was probably wondering why I was still in the House of Spook when I was supposed to be home since my job had ended around an forty-five minutes ago, and I was wondering if this was a joke. He had been a wax dummy all evening, maybe even all day, yet here he was, alive and breathing, right in front of me, touching me with a cold finger. Seriously, it took lots of toleration and endurance to just stand in one place for hours on end. And that's pretty much what he'd done. Or supposedly done. One or the other.

But then I thought, '_What if they took out the real wax dummy and brought this_ _guy in here? It's likely. But I couldn't move the dummy earlier when I tried to. Maybe when Sasuke came through on one of his tours, he glued the dummy to the floor, then had someone help him remove the dummy later. But it's carpet, and it's not easy to glue things securely to carpet. Wow, I'm way confused. I think my brain hurts…'_

I backed away a little, causing him to slowly drop his arm back to his side, and I stared at him warily. He stared back at me, but with an air of annoyance. I swallowed again, which was unmissed by the charming guy before me, and I gathered my courage to ask him a question.

"And…why are you…alive?"

He slowly blinked, reminding me of a cat. I asked him another question before he could answer.

"Is this a trick?"

I asked this one more forcefully, now becoming ticked off. I bit down on my anger, just in case, but still. I _hated_ pranks being played on me, especially by people I rather dislike. If it was a trick, I was_ so _going to _kill_ Duck-Butt-Head.

Gaara gazed at me coldly, all amusement gone, looking as if he was not happy with having to deal with a person like me. Apparently he thought I wasn't taking this seriously enough. Did that mean that it wasn't a prank? Was this real?! But how could it be? Sure, ghosts were believable, but vampires? Myths, legends, stories. I never had believed in vampires, just like sasquatch, but if the person, or vampire, in the room with me was actually real, then I would be looking over my shoulders for big, hairy ape-men for the rest of my life.

I was broken from my train of thoughts by hearing a sigh, and looked up to see Gaara staring off into space, as if he'd rather be anywhere else than here at the moment. Okay, even though he'd win the 'Most Hottest Guy Ever' award hands down, I couldn't stop myself from growing frustrated.

"Hey, I asked you a question! Answer me!" I demanded angrily.

He turned his face and attention toward me, and I quailed. The glare he was giving me was far worse than any glare I'd faced before, and in fact, this one gave new meaning to 'death glare'. I started to back away just a little more, to be sure that if I was attacked, I might have a chance at getting away. But then again, he was blocking the way to the door, so who was I kidding?

When he took a few steps toward me, I backed up more, determined to keep some distance between the two of us. I was still unconvinced that this was real, and if it wasn't, then Sasuke had definitely found a brilliant actor.

Something touched my back, scaring me into gasping, and I jumped, spinning around to see a bookcase full of old novels and dictionaries. Needless to say, I was totally embarrassed that I'd been taken by surprise by a bookshelf. I heard the carpet directly in front of me rustle, and I spun around once more, this time coming face to face with Gaara.

I barely had time to blink when he grabbed a fistful of the neck of my dress, keeping me from running away, and bent down, him being a head taller than me, until our faces were just inches away from the other, and snarled at me, "You are not to talk to me in such a manner, and if you have any arguments, then _hold your tongue_."

I looked pitifully back into his eyes, which were, to be frank, scaring the crap out of me, and replied, "I, uh, apologize then. I only wanted an answer which you still have not given me. Are you really a vampire? Or is this a stupid joke that my co-worker is playing…on…me?" His eyes were still burning into mine as he silently glared at me, and I swore I could have been physically melting. My brain might have been, since I couldn't think, whether out of fear, or the fact that he was really hot and really close to my face, I couldn't tell.

His grip loosened on my dress, and I reached out to pull it all the way out of his grasp. My fingertips brushed his fingers, and I tried to keep my face pointed downward to hide my blush. Again, his arm returned to his side.

His face no longer contained any negative emotions, but I didn't let my guard down anyway.

I was surprised by his actions when he held his hand out to me, and I looked at him in a way that told him that I was clueless as to what he wanted me to do. Randomly hold my hand? How romantic. Yes, I wanted desperately to take it, but I did not want to embarrass myself. He frowned a little, probably annoyed by my antics again, and I noticed that he didn't have any eyebrows, but the rings around his eyes made up for it.

"Put your hand in mine." He explained simply, and I obeyed. Okay, guess it's better just to do what the guy says. He ran his finger once up the back of my hand, causing me to shiver, then he poked my skin gently with a talon-like thumbnail. He ran it once back down my hand, and my eyebrows came together as a peculiar sensation ran through my appendage, starting from my hand, creeping up my arm. I suppose it wasn't a pleasant feeling, but it wasn't unpleasant, ya know what I mean?

Gaara lifted our hands up a little so I could look at mine, and I saw a long, red line running from where he'd first poked me to the point where he'd taken his thumbnail-talon thing off of my skin. A glistening red line that didn't hurt, but made my skin crawl from its appearance, sort of eerie in a way.

Oh yeah, this was _way_ real.

I made eye contact with him, and was pretty sure that I'd paled now. He let go of my hand, fortunately for me, because now that I knew that it wasn't a joke, my heartbeat became fast, my face a little colder, and my head throbbed some from lack of oxygen. I was bad about that, holding my breath when I was scared, and trust me people…I was so flipping terrified.

"I see…well, that proves it then, I guess, heh," I said nervously as I tried to slyly edge towards the door, "I'm so very sorry that I disturbed you, Gaara." Maybe apologizing would save my butt, though in the end, it proved worthless when Gaara took a stride or two ahead of me, blocking my escape. Damn it.

"OKAY, LOOK, I'M TOTALLY SORRY!!" I cried, a panic attack now making itself known, now that I was sure that this was all real. My only thoughts were on the subject of him sucking out my blood, and I wasn't ready to die yet. Not by a long shot.

Gaara winced, looking pretty bothered by my sudden outburst.

"Please may I leave? I won't ever bother you again." I begged in one breath, even more desperate to just get out and never look back. My desperation caused my voice to rise a bit, and again I could see the humor in the vampire's unchanging eyes. My head throbbed, and I took a shaky breath. I swore he was taking his sweet time answering because I was amusing him to no end.

He only shook his head once, and I did a sharp intake of breath. My face fell, and I felt my knees go weak, willpower being the one thing that kept me on my feet. My mind was working overtime, wondering what he was going to do to me. Wow, I sound like a cliché horror movie. Go me!...Or not.

"Wh-whaddya mean?! I-I-I swear, I didn't mean to come in here, my co-worker just told me there was a party and that I had to stay behind and I didn't mean to offend you or anything but-" I started to explain, but he interrupted by holding a hand up, signaling me to stop. I stopped and swallowed. Why was my throat so dry?

"I answered your question. Now answer mine. Why are you here?" he asked nonchalantly. I frowned a little.

"I just told you, my co-worker told me to wait here 'cause there was goin' ta be a party, but apparently, he _did _pull a prank on me, since he didn't come and…I'm….still here…..and there's no party." I told him.

"Ah, is that what all that babbling was? Hm, learn to talk slower and annunciate, for it's quite hard to make out what you are trying to tell me most of the time, and we've only known each other, what, ten minutes?" Gaara said, and I was aware of his attempts at mocking me. Oh, it's on…it's on.

As casually as I could possibly manage at that point, I glanced at the door. Gaara noticed this, and raised the muscles where his eyebrows were supposed to be.

"I suppose you would like to be free of my presence now, am I right?" he inquired, then stepped to the side, and held his arm out to the door, finally letting me pass. I flashed him a quick, grateful smile, and hurried to the door. When I reached it, I turned to thank him, but a word from him stopped me from doing so.

"Get out." He spat, and I heeded his command, no need to be told a second time. Dude, he was so gentlemanly a second ago, what the heck happened? What did I do this time?! I dashed through the rooms of the first floor of the House of Spook as fast as my legs could carry me, opened a window to climb out of, and out of the carnival grounds, unaware of the two icy blue, black rimmed eyes that watched my brilliant escapade. Why I did not try the windows before, I'll never know. Such is my way of life. I was basically running for my life past the neon carnival sign, but being shut off, gave no bright, cheerful lights that would have been very welcome at the time as I ran under it and away. I was so flippin' scared as I made my way past all the trees, out of the forest, down the streets, and into my neighborhood, where two furious adults awaited my return. Dad, be ready for my revenge. But for now…I swear, it was the vampire's fault.

ALineIsSupposedToBeHere….ButIt'sNot!

**Day 2**

That was probably the worst chewing out from my parents I had ever received. You can guess what they said throughout most of the whole thing.

"We were worried sick!"

"We called all the neighbors, asking if they knew of your whereabouts, but nothing!"

"Why didn't you call?!"

"Are you nuts?!"

"Yes." Was the answer I gave them to that last question. Upon seeing their dumbfounded expressions, I explained, "Well, you see, I was held up by a sexy vampire that acted as a wax dummy all evening long…" I trailed off after saying this, because a new thought entered my mind. 'Why and how does he act like a wax dummy all day long?'

To find out the answer, I'd most likely have to ask him directly, something that did not appeal to me. At all. Ever. Though it was only because I was afraid of him getting angry and sucking all my blood out or something similar, but I wanted to see him because he was…well, sexy. Come on people, mysterious vampire with killer looks…who can resist? And of course, the wax dummy thing. I _needed_ to know.

I was thinking about glomping him when shouts of "ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING?!" awoke me from my train of thought, and the tirade began once more.

So yeah, it was around 1:30 when I was allowed to go to bed, but I only got six and a half hours of sleep due to the fact that it was a school night, and I had to get up at seven to get ready and out the door on time. Some people may think that that's a decent amount of time, but forget them. I'd heard that the average teenager should get around twelve hours of sleep. Pff, yeah right!

Once it was time to get up, I had leaped out of bed, only to realize that I was still in my job 'uniform'. Oh dear, Ms. Mitarashi was going to murder me. Oh well, at least I wasn't dead…close to it, though as I stumbled over to my closet, and dressed in a red t-shirt, reminding me of my beloved vampire's beautiful hair, and some blue jeans, tennis shoes, and a black bracelet before grabbing a hair brush, and my backpack, then scrambling out the door to the bus stop, where I hastily raked the brush through my hair, then depositing it into my dump of a backpack.

My stomach growled, and I raced back into my house and into the kitchen, almost running over my father in my haste. I grabbed a granola bar, said a quick goodbye to him, then rushed outside to see the bus just pulling up. I ran up to it, and performed a flying leap to get in. Yay for me, I didn't kill myself. The bus driver, Mr. Asuma, who had a cigarette hanging out of his mouth despite school policy, chuckled at me as I regained the precious footing I had lost, and I found a seat in the front of the vehicle. Only two other people were in it, a senior whose name was Deidara, a boy who always winked at me whenever we made direct eye contact, and Tayuya, a junior who always tried to make my life hell. Happy that the two were seated more towards the back of the bus, I took out my pink ipod, and listened to Comatose by Skillet over and over as the bus filled up. I loved the song, and I listened to it most out of all 204 songs on the little music player.

_I hate feeling like this,_

_I'm so tired of tryin' to fight this,_

_I'm asleep and all I dream of,_

_Is waking to you,_

_Tell me that you will listen,_

_Your touch is what I'm missin'_

_And the more I hide I realize,_

_I'm slowly losin' you,_

_Comatose,_

_I'll never wake up without an overdose_

_Of you,_

_I don' wanna live,_

_I don' wanna breathe,_

_Unless I feel you next to me,_

_You take the pain I feel,_

_Wakin' up to you never felt so real,_

_I don' wanna sleep, _

_I don' wanna dream,_

'_Cause my dreams don't comfort me,_

_The way you make me feel, _

_Wakin' up to you never felt so real,_

_I hate livin' without you,_

_Dead wrong to ever doubt you,_

_My demons lay here waiting,_

_Tempting me away,_

_Oh how I adore you,_

_Oh how I thirst for you,_

_Oh how I need you,_

_Comatose,_

_I'll never wake up without an overdose,_

_Of you,_

_I don' wanna live,_

_I don' wanna breathe,_

_Unless I feel you next to me,_

_You take the pain I feel,_

_Wakin' up to you never felt so real,_

_I don' wanna sleep, _

_I don' wanna dream,_

_Cause my dreams don't comfort me,_

_The way you make me feel, _

_Wakin' up to you never felt so real,_

_Breathin life,_

_Waking up,_

_My eyes, _

_Open up,_

_Comatose,_

_I'll never wake up without an overdose_

_Of you,_

_I don' wanna live,_

_I don' wanna breathe,_

_Unless I feel you next to me,_

_You take the pain I feel,_

_Wakin' up to you never felt so real,_

_Oh how I adore you,_

_Wakin' up to you never felt so real,_

_Oh how I thirst for you,_

_Wakin' up to you never felt so real,_

_Don't leave me alone._

I smiled. Loved that song!

By that time, the bus had really filled up, and so far we were in front of the Uchiha estate. Here was when I sat up, my eyes trained on the door of the mansion-like house. Two figures, one taller than the other, emerged, and the shorter one shoved the tall one violently. This only made the tall one angry, making him grab the short one by his duck butt of a hairstyle and toss him into the mud.

"Oh no!", came a squeal one seat behind me, "Poor Sasuke, his brother is being mean to him again! Mr. Asuma, punish him for making Sasuke dirty!"

Lord have mercy on my poor soul at the moment. Ino. And where there was Ino, there was-

"Cha, punish that good for nothing Itachi!" Sakura. Of course. Ino and Sakura. They were like ketchup and French fries. One just wasn't any good without the other.

I heard a scuffling noise behind me and could only guess that the two were trying to wrestle the other off the seat, wanting Sasuke to sit by them. Itachi boarded the bus first, and as his eyes scanned the large vehicle's interior for an empty seat, I gave him a thumbs-up. He raised an eyebrow subtly, then walked back to where Deidara was sitting.

Mr. Asuma, meanwhile, read the newspaper, ignoring the girls' demands.

Sasuke got on next, his fine rich-person clothes now mucked up, and before he could make his way behind my seat, I snatched his arm and plunked him down beside me. He gave me one of those 'what-in-the-world-are-you-doing-you-weirdo?' looks, and I thought I could feel Sakura's and Ino's eyes boring into the back of our heads.

"You jerk!" I hissed at the youngest Uchiha once the bus started to move again, "There wasn't a flippin' party!" He only smirked at me, which almost made me scream in rage and frustration.

"Oh, did you just now figure that out? Very good, how clever of you." He mocked. Alright, you know what? Forget this.

I slid around until my back was against the window, and put my feet on Sasuke's leg. Before he could react, I thrusted my legs out, and he went sprawling off the seat and onto the floor. Ino and Sakura gasped as a few people laughed at Sasuke's misfortune. He stood up, and gave me a disgruntled glare, which I returned with a smirk of my own, tutting.

"Poor Sasuke. Do you normally have attacks like that?" I taunted as he trudged down the alley to the very back of the bus, away from everyone else. Sakura and Ino tried to get up and follow him, but a quick word from Asuma stopped them.

Behold!...TheLineIsNotHere….ItIsOnBreak.Sorry.

School passed like it always did in its own boring way. Throughout the whole day, I thought about the House of Spook, of Gaara, and of whatever else decided that it wanted to cross my mind. Between first period and second, I interrogated Naruto to see if he'd known about Sasuke's little prank. Of course, being Naruto, he had no idea. I regretted telling him afterwards, because, being Naruto, he ran after Sasuke 'to give him what for'. And, being Naruto, he got his butt kicked. Go figure.

After school, Naruto and I made the decision to walk to the carnival together. We were stopped for a little bit by Mr. Orochimaru asking us if we'd been the ones to terrorize his pet snake, Miss Kitty, by putting a rubber band around its neck. We said no, and hurried out as quickly as possible. I held in a laugh, having seen Deidara wrap the rubber band on the snake. Then he'd winked at me. Urgh.

Naruto and I got on the bus to ride over to my house since it was only 3:30 and the job started at 7:30. After getting permission from Naruto's adoptive father, Iruka, of course.

I did my usual chores around the house as we chatted about whatever came to mind, and right when I was in the middle of brushing my tabby cat, Nezumi, I remembered Gaara. Naruto didn't know yet that Gaara came to life.

"-odd that you named your cat 'Rat', isn't it?" he was saying. (Nezumi means rat in Japanese.)

"Naruto!" I shouted, and the boy jumped. "Gaara comes alive! Last night, when I was locked in the House of Spook, I visited the library and Gaara was alive! I talked to him! I'm SERIOUS!" I practically shrieked as I noticed Naruto's expression.

"Er, Soru," he said slowly, "Did you…sniff anything in Mr. Yakushi's lab today in chemistry?" I rolled my eyes, sighing. Of course he wouldn't believe me. Why should he? Wax dummies don't come alive. At least, not most of the ones that he knows don't.

"No, I did not sniff anything in Mr. Kabby's lab!" I stated indignantly. I liked calling him that, his first name being Kabuto. Kabby just sounds so much funnier.

"Well, um…so what are you saying to me?" asked Naruto dumbly, and I wanted to beat my head on the plastic cat brush in my hand.

"Gaara!" I cried, "He came alive! I don't know how, and I plan to ask him-" Ding! Sudden idea. I grinned at my blonde friend, who looked at me suspiciously. He apparently thought that I was still under the influence of chemical fumes.

"Well, at least come with me tonight after about eleven thirty to twelve, and I'll show you! Gaara comes alive!" I explained, and now Naruto seemed uncomfortable, yet somehow eager.

"Soru, I'd like to, but it's a school night, and Iruka might not like me getting home so late. You told me about your parents' reactions, right?" he said, and I sighed. I was doing a lot of that, hunh? I could tell that he wanted to, he'd always been getting into trouble, and wouldn't be at all worried about Iruka's reaction. It was probably because he just wanted sleep.

"Fine, this Friday. Today's Wednesday, so we won't have to wait long. Please Naruto, Friday night? Just this one Friday night? It'll be scary and cool staying overnight in the House of Spook, won't it?!" I pleaded, and saw, to my satisfaction, his blue eyes light up at the prospect of having a mini adventure in the House of Spook. Finally, he gave up.

"Alright, cool! I'll tell Iruka, and then you an' me can do that!" he said in a hurry, and the date was set. Naruto, prepare to meet Gaara.

So the date was set up. That evening, we went back to the carnival, and the topic of why our jobs ended so late even on school nights was brought up. The two of us complained and made remarks about how much of a rip-off it was.

When we arrived at the carnival, I headed straight for Ms. Mitarashi, apologizing for taking the uniform. She only brushed off my words and said it was alright to take it home every night so that I didn't get it mixed up with the others that nobody wore, as long as I didn't ruin it. Gaara stayed still and in the same position as yesterday, and you couldn't tell that he'd moved at all. But whenever I went into the library, I constantly felt as if I were being watched. Eerie. I swear that I might have seen his face change its expression a little, but you never know with me. I always see things.

**Day Three-Thursday**

**Day Four-Friday**

The next two nights ran smoothly and without too many disturbances, the only problem being one exceptionally loud girl who just _had_ to positively scream every time something freaked her out. Wimp. But who am I to say anything? Well, at least I wouldn't shriek like she did. And of course, Sasuke was always bothersome, making jeers and mocking me whenever possible, especially after the bus incident, but for the most part, all was well.

Finally, Friday crept up slowly, almost seeming as if it were teasing me with its slowness. School was actually pretty awesome today, and everything was going absolutely wonderful for me. In P.E. class, third period, it was dodgeball day, which happened to be my favorite athletic activity. Since it was too fantastic to not add, here's a detailed account of what went on.

**THISISAFLASHBACK,THISISAFLASHBACK,THISISAFLASHBACK**

_Unlike last Friday, Rock Lee was on my team, and Sasuke was on the other, which made me all too happy. To say the least, I'm not the best at getting people out and hitting them with the ball, but dodging seems to be in my blood. In fact, today I'd done the best I'd ever done. Our team was down to me and Rock Lee, while Sasuke, Naruto, and Kiba were the only three left on the other team. Rock Lee and I teamed up, me providing a distraction with my excellent dodging skills, then Lee would go in for the kill. _

_Anyways, Sasuke threw a ball at me, and I dropped to the ground and rolled off to the side as Kiba lobbed another at me. Naruto was having a blast trying to nail me with any chance he got, and I was doing the same. I quickly got back on my feet, and rushed over to Lee. _

_"You run to the left, and I'll distract Sasuke to the right." I told him, and he nodded, understanding the plan, then snatching up a ball. I darted over to the side, avoiding a wildly bouncing ball that Naruto had thrown, and yelled out, "OY, Duck-Butt-Head! Here, here, I'm over here!" I waved my arms and jumped up and down. Sasuke noticed and glared. Yes! I'd gotten his attention! Right when he was turning, about to throw the ball at me, Ino and Sakura cheering him on from the sidelines of the gymnasium, Lee hurled the ball at him, and got him in the head. Down for the count!_

_And then Kiba hit me with a ball while I was distracted………._

_Eventually, Lee won the whole thing for our team, and we cheered for him. It wasn't a real surprise though. The team that didn't have him on their side was always 100 percent doomed even before the game started. But it was all in good fun._

**FLASHBACKHASENDEDNOW, FLASHBACKHASENDEDNOW!**

Naruto was the only one I'd ever throw the ball at, because he and I were buddies, and we always made it a point to engage each other in a full-on battle when on opposite teams. But my throwing skills, however, were disgraceful. That's why I never dared to throw a ball at anyone else. Well, Hinata was an easy target, but I don't think any good natured person would want to chunk anything at the sweet little Hyuuga.

Though I was always a little sad at the end of most games when I watched Sakura and Ino swoon over Sasuke after his win or defeat, and Lee and Choji would gaze on sadly from a distance away. Why, why couldn't they see that the two boys held affectionate feelings for them? It was way too obvious. Well, alright, Sakura knew that Lee liked her a whole bunch, but she just never even tried to give him a chance. It was all about Sasuke! That was another reason that I kinda hated him. Lee and Choji were good guys, and I was unhappy that they were unhappy. I knew that Sasuke didn't want the attention he got from the two girls, but still. He was a jerk anyway.

But that's off topic, isn't it? So yeah, once school ended, I raced to the lockers to locate my blonde friend, who was attempting to shove his books into his own locker. After assisting him, we got out of the campus as fast as possible. After all, who wasn't excited about an overnight stay in a creepy house?!

"Alright," I said as we made our way through the forest leading to the carnival, "We need to have our story straight. We'll tell Ms. Mitarashi that we both want to double check the house so that we can go back home together, correct?" Naruto nodded. "So we'll stay behind, hide behind the curtains for maybe thirty minutes, you have your watch, right?" he held up the little gadget secured tightly onto his wrist, "And then we'll explore. Oooh, I can't wait!"

But we were lucky. As it turns out, on the last tour of the day, which I was the one giving it, a little kid of maybe six threw up in the living room after being scared to heck. This meant that I had to do a lot of scrubbing and washing, and Naruto gave the excuse of staying with me because he was bored, and Ms. Mitarashi was convinced.

"Alright," she said, "That's fine, as long as you lock the doors on your way out." She tossed the keys to Naruto, who caught them expertly, and she left. Naruto and I exchanged amused grins, surprised at our luck.

The cleaning of the carpet took a while, and it was well after 11:30 before we were done with it. But we had the night to look forward to, which brightened our spirits. Of course, Naruto wanted to check out the whole mansion to see what it looked like after midnight, and he did just that while I waited at the bottom of the stairs. I'd told him that it probably wouldn't be any different than before, since we gave our tours after dark, but he said that it just wasn't the same as after midnight. That's Naruto for you.

My skin was crawling with anxiety as I led him to the library. I had not stayed any later than when my job ended for the past two nights so that I didn't annoy Gaara any more than I already had. I hadn't forgotten how he'd told me to basically get lost after bothering him, and really didn't want to aggravate him. Aggravating a real live vampire was just stupid, no? But that's exactly what I was going to do.

Right outside the doors of the library, I stopped and giggled, saying, "Are you ready to meet Gaara, Naruto?" My blonde friend shrugged, but smiled, still not believing what I'd told him. I took a deep breath, and opened the door.

Cold. It was cold, just like before. And Gaara, just like before, two nights ago, was nowhere to be seen. I watched Naruto closely as he raised his eyebrows and blinked. What was he thinking? Oh, I wanted to know so badly. Then I got my wish.

"Who moved Gaara?" he asked. I scoffed, and narrowed my eyes at him.

"Naruto, seriously, think. Remember when we couldn't move him on Tuesday when we'd seen him turned around a little? Do you really think that someone would just be able to conveniently place him somewhere else now?"

He shrugged again. "Well, this is carpet. If anyone had tried to stick him to it, it would be easy to shift him a bit, you know what I mean? Carpet isn't that easy to stick things to."

"I know that!" I exclaimed, "But how hard was it to move him when we saw him like that? He was rigid, as if he were molded into stone, dude! _Remember_?!"

Naruto nodded slowly, now looking pretty confused, just like me two nights ago. "But…how could he move?" he asked slowly.

"You would like to find that out, now wouldn't you?" came that beautiful, heart-melting voice to our left.

We turned, Naruto a little faster than I did, and there he stood. Gaara. In all his shining glory. But he was glaring. Yeah, not a good sign.

"I thought I instructed you to leave. I might not have included that I wanted you to stay away, but I certainly implied it. I thought you had been smart enough to figure that out." Said the former wax dummy, and his glare was directed solely on me. I swallowed.

Oh dear.

--

**Me: Hey peeps! Here's the second chapter! Yays! Same as before, I would love to receive some constructive criticism and advice, because I know that this story needs a little improving, so yeah. And I know that Gaara isn't really in the story a whole lot, but I'll work on it. There will definitely be more of him in the future, but for now, I'm setting the scene up, know what I mean? Hopefully you do. Please review! I'd love to hear from yall!**

**(Yes, Gaara does talk more than I think he should. He is a little OOC, and I apologize for that. Any advice?)**


	3. Friends of a Vampire & Talking To Sasuke

--

**Me: This chapter will begin a little more serious, the humor and lightheartedness will come later. I just wanted to add some depth in the story, so please forgive me if you think it's a little boring at first. It shouldn't be…The Soru/Gaara fluff is going to come later on. Just have to build up to it, you know? So yeah, there are some lines in this chapter straight from the manga, from Naruto's battle against Gaara, so if you recognize them, great! If not, then just read the story. Yay! **

--

_We turned, Naruto a little faster than I did, and there he stood. Gaara. In all his shining glory. But he was glaring. Yeah, not a good sign._

_"I thought I instructed you to leave. I might not have included that I wanted you to stay away, but I certainly implied it. I thought you had been smart enough to figure that out." Said the former wax dummy, and his glare was directed solely on me. I swallowed._

_Oh dear._

**--**

**Soru's POV**

I glanced at Naruto to see that he was staring, mouth slightly open at the sight of the vampire-formerly-wax-dummy. A small feeling of triumph built up in me, and I smirked. Hah, burn, Naruto. Burn.

"Well?"

Oh yeah, I completely forgot about Gaara in my moment of I-was-right-and-you-were-wrong. I faced the red head to see him glaring his all famous death glare at me. Okay, so it wasn't all famous, but to me it was even if I'd only seen it once before. I tried smiling pleasantly at him as I answered.

"Um, yes, well, my friend here doubted that you actually came alive, so I am showing him. Now. Here. That you're alive. Which I still don't know the answer as to why…" I trailed off. I do that a lot, don't I? Trail off and forget about what I was just talking about a moment before. I looked at Naruto, who looked back at me, awe clear in his face. Burn, Naruto. Burn.

"I'm not a thing that you can just _show off_, _girl_." Gaara spat angrily, the last three words coming out in a dangerous growl. Oh. Great. I have officially just ticked off a vampire. Yay for me. Burn, Soru. Way buuuuuuurrnnn……

"As fake as I seemed before, I'm sure that I have assured you that I am all too real." He continued, his voice taking on a more vicious edge, if that was even possible. And of course, Naruto, being Naruto, just had to say something stupid in the moment of danger.

"Is this a prank you're playing on me, Soru? 'Cause it's really good, ya know? You guys are totally awesome actors." He mused, and despite the fact that a vampire was probably thinking about killing us, I felt as if I were glowing. Naruto thought I was an impressive actress? Why, Naruto, I'm quite flattered-

"Then again, this could be real. I mean, you never _were_ that great at acting before…" he said. I could almost hear him now. 'Burn, Soru. Burn.' Seething at my blonde friend, I turned to Gaara who was watching us. He was still glaring at me, and I tried not to make eye contact.

"Hey, Gaara, show him that you're real. Come on, show him! You did it before!" I cried, waving my arms frantically in the air. There was no real purpose to it, I just always used hand gestures when talking. Yeah, I'm weird. Deal with it.

Gaara scoffed, his glare becoming nastier. Shoot. Was the wall behind me melting? Then I remembered that there was no wall behind me. Fine, was the wall to my left melting? I checked. Nope. Wait, what was that? A bubble? A spark? Then I realized that Gaara was saying something.

"I fail to see how that wall has become so fascinating, girl, but will you listen to me?!" he hissed, and I gave him my full attention. It struck me that he'd finally addressed me in some way, even if it was just 'girl'. Of course, I'd never given him my name.

"I'll listen. Sorry, Gaara." I quickly apologized. He sneered, and then began to say what he was saying before.

"I said that you, girl, do not order me around. Why should I waste my time proving what I am to your fool of a friend? What friend is he that he does not believe what you say, if he is truly a friend to you?" I blinked at him. What a mouthful.

"Because," I explained, "To answer your first question, wouldn't you rather him know what you are instead of thinking that you are part of some stupid joke? Seriously, dude, he thinks you're a _joke_." The muscle behind where Gaara's eyebrows were, or should have been, raised. I had made my point. "To answer your second question, isn't it an odd story? A wax dummy coming alive. You really don't find stories like that in the news." Again, it seemed that I'd made my point. The vampire looked down at the floor, glaring at it as if it were its fault that we were here at all. Then again, this guy proved me wrong by coming alive when I thought he was a wax dummy, so what wasn't possible? Curse you, floor…curse you.

"Hmph." Gaara looked less angry, but I wasn't fooled. He was still unhappy with the situation. It was either prove himself to a person he didn't think was worth his time, or be known as a joke. Eventually, he made a decision, and took a few quick strides over to Naruto, who gazed at him in wonder. Taking Naruto's arm, he ran a talon-like thumbnail down my friend's appendage. A three inch red line gleamed in the light of the moon shining through the large window of the library. Naruto's eyes widened to the size of basketballs, or close to it, in shock, and I could've laughed, he looked so comical.

Staring at the two, I realized that Gaara was not much taller than Naruto, maybe only by two or three inches. I wondered how old he was…was he one of those stereotypical vampires that lived for like, forever, only to be killed by a religious symbol, garlic, or a wooden stake driven through his heart? Or was he more humane, able to die of illness or old age? I shook myself from these thoughts to see Naruto narrowing his blue eyes as he stared into Gaara's lighter ones. Staring contest? At a time like this?

Then he said, "Your eyes…they have the same look that mine did...cold…lonely,"

I blinked in surprise. Eh? That was the most serious I'd ever heard my blonde friend sound. And that, people, freaked me out a little.

Gaara narrowed his eyes at Naruto, but his was more an expression of suspicion than the misty wonder that Naruto was giving him. I looked back and forth between the two's eyes. I then thought about how much I knew of Naruto's past. Not much, but I knew that people more or less hated him because of his overactive imagination. He'd had an imaginary friend he called 'Kyuubi', which was the nickname of a rabid fox that had terrorized Konoha until the village's mayor caught it. But it came at a great cost, for the mayor was bitten by the fox before its capture. The mayor died, and it was no wonder that some feared my friend for talking to the mayor's killer. He must have been lonely. Poor Naruto.

But then, that meant that Gaara must be as well. Of course, being in a library for awhile with no human contact was probably not that fun.

"You know nothing of me. You see what I am. Now leave." Gaara snarled, backing away from the two of us. I was reluctant to leave, feeling as if that if we left, we would leave something unfinished behind. I realized that the feeling was caused by my wanting more answers. I wanted to know everything about the handsome supernatural being before me.

I was about to say something, when Naruto beat me to it. "I don't know why you feel the way you do, but it's no fun, is it, being lonely?" He said, and I could almost physically feel how deep the meaning of those words were. As if I maybe felt the pain that Naruto used to feel.

Gaara looked astounded, his black rimmed eyes going wide. He seemed at a loss for words, until he shouted, "You know nothing!! You understand nothing!! How can you have felt the way I do?! How can you have known what it's like to be shunned for what you are?! Stay away from me!"

I almost smiled. Oh yeah, you are so wrong, dude.

"I felt that before," Naruto said slowly, "Nobody wanted me, nobody cared what happened to me, just because I acted differently. Because I was different. Because no one understood me. I know what it's like to be hated. But then…I found friends who didn't judge me." I saw him glance in my direction, and I glowed like before, happy to have been important in the healing of my friend's mental state.

"They saved me from my pit of loneliness. I couldn't live without them. I love them." Naruto continued, and Gaara no longer looked as if he wanted to harm us, though he didn't really look as if he had 'found his inner peace' yet. What Naruto had said was not sinking in all the way.

I decided to step in. Hey, you can't blame me, can you? Naruto was getting all the attention, and I wanted to earn some brownie points with the sexy vampire. "Yeah, I can see what Naruto means," I said, and the two turned to me, "I can't truthfully say that I have felt as lonely as you guys, but I know what it's like to just…be alone. I'm an only child, no siblings to talk to. My parents were there, but it's not the same, ya know? So yeah, then I met Naruto and other people, and everything just became better from there. You need friends in life, or you aren't gonna get by."

Wow, such a dramatic speech. Then I finalized the whole thing.

"And, uh, well, ya know, I guess Naruto and I could be your friends."

Gaara had been looking at the floor again, but his head snapped up at my mention of this. I half expected his expression to be furious, but it was calm, his eyes widening again. If he didn't stop doing that, I swear, his eyes are going to flippin' fall out! I swear!! But he caught himself, and his eyelids went down a little, half covering his eyeballs. Again giving us an accusing and suspicious look.

Naruto nodded in agreement, his mood changing from seriousness back to happy-go-lucky. "Yeah, we could be best buds! Whaddya say, Gaara?"

The vampire eyed us warily, as if expecting us to suddenly jump up and down, shouting, 'Ha, we tricked you! You're gonna be lonely forever, sucker!' The thought made my stomach clench a little. How cruel that would be.

A sigh interrupted my thoughts, and Gaara stared at us, no more hostility reflected in his face. "You…you seem to understand, then. But how can you? I suppose it's possible...but…you….but" He muttered, "You are truly fine with befriending one such as I?"

"Well yeah!" I blurted out, my happy-go-lucky mood returning as well, "No one deserves to be lonely, and even if you weren't, we'd still be friends, right, Naruto?"

"Yeah, believe it!!" he confirmed, grinning like I was.

Gaara seemed almost overwhelmed with disbelief, but his eyes shone with well concealed gratitude, and he still looked pretty suspicious of us. I wondered how long it had been since he'd had friends…if he'd had any at all. He nodded. "Then…I am grateful. I shall become your friend, should you wish it."

I couldn't hold it in any more. I flew at Gaara, colliding with him and squeezing his ribcage with utmost glee. "New friend! Yay!" I cried. Yes, what a wonderful excuse to hug him. I love life right now.

Gaara was majorly surprised one moment, and the next he was prying my arms off of his torso. "Off...-grunt-…get off of me, girl! We are friends, not enemies, and such bone crushing squeezes as these are not necessary!" He finally succeeded in escaping my glomp, and took a few steps away from me while I smiled.

"First of all, my name is Soru, not 'girl'. Second, it was a hug, and friends normally do that!" I explained for future references. See 'Friend's Manual, Section 7, chapter entitled, The Sharing of Hugs'. Yeah, I made that up. Teehee!

The vampire just stared for a second, and then nodded slowly. "Soru. I see. You are called Soru." He grimaced, "That torture is normal between friends?"

I was a bit offended. Torture? Torture, my foot! "Well, not as painful as that one was, but some friends hug each other. Not all of them!" I shouted as Gaara gave an appalled look at Naruto. Apparently vampires knew the basics of the amounts of affection given to one another, especially between the same sex. But life without hugs?! No wonder he was so lonely!

"Yeah, hugs are gentler than that. Wanna try again?" I asked, suppressing a giggle as Gaara looked at me as if I were absolutely revolting.

"I will pass on that. Keep your '_hugs_' to yourself." He said disdainfully, drawing out the word hugs as if it were foreign to him. Then again, it probably was.

"And I'm Naruto!" announced the hyperactive boy, bouncing over to Gaara, who, like with me, backed away a smidge.

"Alright then. Naruto." Gaara repeated. I saw how much Naruto and I had managed to back him up towards a bookshelf. We were cornering him, and it appeared that he was feeling the pressure like a cornered animal would. I imagined me cornering him and-

'NO! Stay clean, my mind, stay clean!' I mentally scolded myself.

"Uh, Soru? Are you okay?" I heard Naruto ask, and I opened my eyes. I realized that I'd closed them and had been smacking my forehead with the palm of my hand, trying to rid myself of any scary thoughts. The two guys were staring at me.

"Yeah, totally fine!" I assured them, waving my hands in the air as I said so.

"You cannot be very sure," Gaara remarked, "You did not seem okay the first time I met you." He was smirking, and I glared back. Oh, he did _not_ just mention that!

Naruto's head flicked back and forth from Gaara to me like mine did earlier. "Whaddya mean, Gaara?" he asked cluelessly.

"Nothing!" I yelled, my arms rising up into the air, "I just freaked out, okay?! You know that I do that a lot!" I then folded my arms and pouted, turning my back on them.

…..It was quiet. Too quiet. Right as I was about to turn around, something jabbed me between the shoulder blades.

"AIYEEH!!" I shrieked, my hand flying to my back, and me jumping, almost falling over. I whirled around to see a laughing Naruto, and a smirking Gaara. I glared at Naruto as he calmed down and grinned at me.

"Naruto!" I shouted angrily, "You dork! You downright dork!" Dork was my innocent word for jerk. Why was he a jerk? Because I was ticklish between the shoulder blades, on my stomach, sides, and soles of my feet, and Naruto knew I hated being tickled, yet he did it anyway. He was just like that.

Right when I was about to smack him upside the head, his watch beeped. He looked down at it and said, "One a.m. Time to go, Soru. Iruka said to be back before two, and we'd better get a head start if we wanna make it in time."

I sighed, still wanting to stay with Gaara, but it was either go with Naruto or walk home alone…in the empty woods. I got the idea to ask Gaara to walk me home, but I decided not to. I wanted to rub it in Naruto's face that Gaara did come alive. Besides, I don't think Gaara trusted either of us all the way yet. Especially not the glomping girl. Heh.

"Fine." I said, and gave the vampire a wave and a grin. "See ya, Gaara!" I outstretched my arms toward him. "Hug?" He backpedaled, and finally backed into the bookshelf.

"Absolutely not." He hissed, giving my arms the evil eye. I giggled, and Naruto said his goodbyes, too. We were leaving when we heard Gaara whisper, "Thank you."

Naruto and I turned to face him. I had almost missed what he'd said, it was so quiet. But I smiled at him and Naruto was doing the same. We were about to leave again when I thought of something. Once more I faced Gaara and told him, "I'll come say bye every night, okay? I might even be able to stay a little on weekend nights."

He gave me a calm, yet questioning look. "Why?"

I shrugged. "I dunno. I just wanna hang out with you."

Finally, I left with Naruto, leaving through the window, heading back down the road to our homes, and just like the first night I'd met the mysterious vampire, I didn't realize that the two black rimmed, icy eyes watched as we walked away. I was a little saddened by the thought of leaving him tonight, then reminded myself that'd we'd be able to see each other again. Regaining happiness with this thought, I skipped all the way back home, saying bye to Naruto and my thoughts turned from Gaara to my comfy bed in my room.

**LineLineLineLineLineLineLineLineLineLineLineLineLineLineLinishLineLineLine**

**Day Five-Saturday**

And voila! Naruto and I had successfully goaded Gaara into being our friend! Well, alright, I wasn't totally sure that he even trusted us, but it was a beginning, wasn't it? Yeah, we just had to work on it. I was glad it was Saturday, because that meant that tonight I could stay awhile longer with him in the House of Spook. I might've been getting a little cocky, considering how many times I'd been able to get past Ms. Mitarashi, but until it quit being a success, I was going to keep on visiting my favorite non-wax dummy.

Anyways, it was around ten o' clock as I was happily munching on some Honey Bunches of Oats cereal, when the phone rang.

"Soru!" my mom called from the living room, "Phone for you! It's Naruto!"

I swallowed my mouthful of oaty goodness, and ran to fetch the phone. I grabbed it from my mom with a quick 'thanks', and returned to the adjacent dining room. I hit the 'Talk' button as the device began to ring again, and put it to my ear.

"Hola, que paso mi amigo? (Hi, what's up, my friend?)" I said. I heard Naruto laugh on the other end.

"Yeah, whatever, Soru. Anyways, I was thinkin' about showing Gaara to Sasuke, too. Whaddya think?" he suggested.

I pursed my lips, a sign that I was cautious about something. "It's a great idea, but remember how Gaara acted last night?" I replied, "He apparently doesn't fancy being shown off, and we're just barely friends. Not even on 'buddy' terms yet. So, um, maybe not yet."

But he just wasn't going to let it go. "What if we pretend that we didn't mean to show Gaara to him? We could distract him until Ms. Mitarashi locks up, and speak loudly enough so Gaara can hear. Like, we could say things that will make Gaara realize that we aren't the only two in the building, and maybe he'll come and investigate! You never know!" Naruto said. I frowned. That might actually work. _Might_ being the key word here.

"Erm, okay, we can try that." I mumbled, and I heard Naruto cheering in the background. Then I heard him say something, and I realized he wasn't talking into the phone.

"Wha-? Oh, just, um, happy that Soru's letting me borrow a CD…….yeah, I _am_ happy about it……….what, a guy can't be happy without cheering?...You know I'm that weird!" He then talked to me again. "Sorry, Soru. Iruka was wondering why I was cheering." He explained.

"Oh really?" I said.

"Yeah, really. But I have an idea!" he suddenly told me, "Let's visit Sasuke today and see if we can convince him to act as if he didn't mean to get locked up in the House of Spook! Then we won't have to go through so much trouble!"

I rolled my eyes. "I seriously doubt that he's going to believe anything we say. How do you think you're going to convince him?"

"I'll tell him that something really cool happens after midnight!"

I groaned. Duck-Butt-Head was _not_ going to believe that. But heck, I had a plan for getting my revenge on him, so why not visit him today? Yeah, I know, I should be over it by now, but why not? I can get revenge anytime I want! Just shoving him off the bus seat wasn't enough. He got me locked up in a creepy house at night, I shoved him off a bus seat. Which is worse? Come on, tell me.

"Fine, Naruto, whatever." I said, and heard him cheering once more. Then Iruka's voice reached my ears.

"Naruto, if you do not stop doing that just because of a CD, I'm going to take that phone away from you!"

I snickered. "Hey Naruto," I said, "I also want to get Sasuke back for locking me up on the first night, so that's another reason to visit him, which means I'm in. When and where do you wanna meet?"

**HELLO, I'MALINE, HELLO, I'MALINE, HELLO, I'MALINE**

So that's how Naruto and I ended up meeting each other at Konoha Park at two-thirty, a bottle of _tonic water_ in hand. Dun dun duuuuuuunnnn! I hadn't told Naruto what I'd actually planned to do to Sasuke, so the tonic water raised questions in his head. Before he could ask, I held up the bottle in his face.

"Tonic water!" I cried, "More commonly known as seltzer water, it is merely carbonated water that looks and smell exactly like the Sprite soda, but it tastes horribly bitter!" I then cackled. "Kiba tricked me into trying it once when our families got together for a party, and it's really bitter. Disgusting. Could kill a person."

Naruto stared at me, and I held it out to him.

"Take a sip, see for yourself."

Being the idiot he was, he grabbed the bottle from my hands and opened it. Sasuke might notice that, but oh well. Not even giving heed to my words of 'disgusting, could kill a person', he took a sip. One second later, he thrusted the bottle at me, spluttering and gagging.

"Take it back, take it back! It's vile! I'm dying!" he cried, sinking to his knees.

I nudged him with my foot. "Get up, you wimp. Kiba gave it to me when I was thirsty, and I took a whole gulp of the stuff, so tough it out. You'll live." I knew I wasn't being to kind, but I couldn't help it. That's just who I was.

Naruto got to his feet again, looking at the bottle of tonic water as if it were a rabid snake. Well, I'd never heard of a rabid snake, and I wasn't even sure if they existed, but if they did, then the look Naruto was giving it fit perfectly. I rolled my eyes for the second time that day, tightening the lid on the bottle as much as possible.

"Come on, let's go visit Sasuke."

It took twenty minutes to arrive at the Uchiha manor-estate-thingy, whatever you want to call it, but the point is we arrived at it. I rang the doorbell, and when it didn't open, Naruto took the liberty of ringing it upon himself.

Ding-dong!

……Ding-dong!

…………Ding-dong!

………………Ding-dong!

……………………..Ding-dong!

…………………………………..Ding-dong!

……………………………………………..Ding-dong, ding-dong, ding-dong, ding-dong, ding-dong, ding-dong, ding-WHAM!!

"WHAT?! WHAT THE HECK DO YOU WANT?!" yelled an angry Itachi Uchiha, looming over us in the doorway. Naruto quickly ducked behind me at the sight of the infuriated boy.

He spotted my bottle of tonic water and snarled, "No, we don't want any of what you're selling!!" and was about to slam the door closed, but I caught it, almost sacrificing my fingers in doing so.

"We wanna see that little duck-butt-headed brother of yours." I said disdainfully, making sure to let him know that we weren't fangirls. Erm, fangirl and fanboy, I mean.

The elder Uchiha eyed us silently, finally shouting over his shoulder, "Hey, Useless, people here to see you!"

He was about to turn away as Sasuke's footsteps were heard coming down the stairs, but then he scrutinized me a little more.

"Aren't you the girl from the bus who gave me a thumbs up?" he asked. I nodded. Maybe I was automatically promoted to friend with this 'Itachi' just for congratulating him on humiliating his brother. But that hope faded as he said, "Hn." And walked away. Dork.

Sasuke appeared around the corner, and stopped at the sight of us, then continued to the doorway.

"What do you two Dobes want?" he questioned.

Naruto answered before I could get a word in. "Hey, wanna stay late with us tonight in the House of Spook?!" he was literally bouncing up and down as he asked.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the blonde, and asked a question of his own. "And why should I?"

"Because it's so much cooler after midnight!" said Naruto.

Sasuke snorted. "Is it, now?"

"Come on, Teme, pleeeeeaaaaaasssseee?!" Naruto begged, folding his hands and shaking them.

I could see that Sasuke was about fed up with this and going to slam the door shut when I said, "He won't quit bugging you until you say yes, you know." That stopped the guy in his tracks. He definitely knew how annoying Naruto could be. He glared at us, more at Naruto, before complying to the blonde's wishes.

"Fine. Whatever. I don't see what's so special about it, but as long as you two don't bother me anymore."

Naruto cheered some more, and I smirked. Success. I remembered the tonic water just as Itachi was coming to check things out. I guessed that Sasuke didn't normally talk to people on the doorstep this long. Probably slammed the door on them instantly, the dork.

I held out the bottle to him, making sure that the words 'Tonic Water' were facing away from him so he wouldn't see.

"Sprite?" I offered, "Mom says to get rid of it all, and she hates the stuff, and I'm sick of it. Just take it, please."

Heheh, hook, line, and sinker! He takes the bottle from me, eyeing it warily. "The label looks different." He said. I shrugged.

"New labeling."

His turn to shrug, then he opened it, took a whole chug of the stuff, and he was immediately gasping and spitting out the drink. I laughed until tears leaked from the corners of my eyes, and he dropped the bottle.

Itachi came over and picked it up, examining the label. He nodded, recognizing what it was. He gave me one small glance, and said, "Genius.", then walked away again. Cool, I'd earned brownie points with Itachi Uchiha.

"Uh, Naruto?" I said to my friend as Sasuke wiped off his mouth, recovering from the swig of tonic water, "We'd better run." We both watched as Sasuke raised his head to glare at us, and of course, we were both genuinely terrified. I yanked Naruto's arm as I ran, dragging him along with me and yelling over my shoulder, "Don't forget about tonight, Sasuke! See ya!"

I heard the door of the manor slam as we ran for our lives, and I hoped that he would show up.

**THISISALINE, THISISALINE, THISISALINE, THISISALINE, THISISALINE**

**Normal POV**

It was seven-twenty that evening as Gaara stared out the upstairs window at the four people outside. That Mitarashi woman, the boy with the hairdo of the rear end of a duck, and the two people he'd recently made 'friends' with, Soru and Naruto. The group was clustered at the doors of the House of Spook, obviously getting ready for the night.

Friends. Quite a different word to Gaara. He'd never really known what it was like to have friends. He'd been born a vampire. Yes, it was odd. No one had really heard of a vampire being_ born_, but it had happened to him. His mother and father were both vampires, so that's what caused his own mutation into a bat-human creature. He didn't have to be bitten by a certain bat to change…it all just happened on its own.

Gaara sighed just a little as he remembered his childhood. He'd come from a village called Suna where vampires and humans had declared a truce with one another. Of course, they hardly ever interacted, vampires favoring coming out at night, but there was a truce nonetheless.

He scoffed. The silly humans had actually carried garlic or crosses with them anyways no matter when they went out, for they knew that vampires could come out in the day, they were just prone to becoming mysteriously ill. You would think that that would disprove the other rumors, but no. They still shoved garlic into his face, poked him with crosses, and showered him with gallons of holy water. But nothing happened. Those were all just myths made up to reassure little children that they could actually protect themselves. Gaara shook his head. What fools humans could be sometimes.

But Soru and Naruto…were they fools who just wanted to make a random friend and show him off to brag about it? Or did they truthfully understand him? It wasn't impossible…but was it possible? And did he even want friends? He didn't even know what friends were supposed to act like around each other….except hug, but he wasn't to keen on that idea.

But then….there was that tiny ache in his heart that told him not to sever his newly-made friendship with the two oddballs. He wasn't sure that he'd really wanted friends from the time he was seven to now, but he couldn't help it. Most of all, he was curious…what was it like to have friends?

He hurried to the library, knowing that he had enough time to think about all the possibilities before actually making contact with the two. And with this thought, he stepped into the library, shutting the door behind him. He walked over to the spot he was supposed to stand at, and froze. Of course, being supernatural, he had supernatural talents, like being able to stay in one spot, unmoving, for hours on end.

A little while later, the door opened, and he heard Naruto's and Soru's voices.

"Hey, Gaara!" that was Soru, the girl who always reacted so oddly to him, either paling or blushing most of the time.

"We came to say hi before we start! So hi!" That was Naruto.

"HI!" Soru again.

Gaara turned his head and acknowledged the two with a nod, then stood perfectly still again.

"How do you stand so still?" asked Soru.

"A talent all vampires have. Now go. You have a job to do." Answered the red head.

As the two left, he heard an offended sounding sniff, and Soru said, "Aw, you're so mean, always dismissing us like that. Whatever. See ya later!"

Gaara just rolled his eyes. Strange. So strange.

**LATERLATERLATERLATERLATERLATERLATERLATERLATERLATER**

Out in front of the mansion, Soru and Naruto sat on the ground side by side, watching as the last group left, crying five year old in tow. Soru scowled.

"Why do people bring little kids to scary places? It makes no sense. Seriously, don't they know that kids can't handle scary?" she muttered, staring up at the sky, as if the stars and moon would give her any answers. Sasuke was leaning against the wall, looking as if he'd rather be anywhere else than here…then again, he probably would. Surprisingly, he'd actually agreed to staying with the duo at the House of Spook that night, but now it seemed that he was regretting making such a decision. He was gazing out to the other stands and tents along the carnival, and his companions took advantage of the situation to form a plan.

"Okay, Soru, let me get this straight. Sasuke checks the house-."

"Mansion."

"Fine, mansion. Anyways, he checks it, we hide in the curtains-."

"No, I hide in the library. I'm gonna ask Gaara if it's all right if we introduce him to Sasuke. I won't take a chance in making him mad. One thing I didn't actually have to learn is that making vampires angry is bad."

"I thought we were gonna act as if we didn't mean to show him to Sasuke."

"Change of plan."

"Alright, that'll work. We'll come get you when Ms. Mitarashi leaves."

"Okay, sounds good."

And so 'Operation: Introduce Sasuke To Gaara' was set in motion. Making sure Ms. Mitarashi wasn't looking, the three teens slipped inside the mansion together, one of them heading for the library.

**Soru's POV**

I crept into the library to see…nothing. Gaara was not here. I tilted my head. Was he in another part of the house? I was about to turn around and check, when I heard his voice from up above me.

"Soru…up here."

I looked up to see him standing on a balcony that ran along the library walls, a steep staircase leading up to it near the window.

I grinned, and raced up the stairs to greet him. Once I was right in front of him, I held out my arms.

"Hug?"

"No."

"One little one?"

"No."

"Not even a tiny one?"

"No."

"It'll last only one second!"

"No."

"Are you ever going to say yes?"

"No."

"Are you a boy?"

"Yes."

I grimaced at the vampire, sticking my tongue out at him. "Make up your mind, darnit!" I demanded. He raised an eyebrow-muscle at me. I shrugged. I'd run out of ideas…and things to say. We stood there for a few moments, before I remembered something.

"Oh yeah, hey, Gaara?"

"…?"

"Can Naruto and I introduce you to Sasuke, our co-worker? Please, we're not showing you off, if that's what you think, we just want you to meet him!"

Gaara frowned, not looking too pleased with the thought, and surprised me with his answer. "Fine."

I gasped and bounced up and down, clapping with joy. Yayness!

**ENDOFCHAPTERLINE, ENDOFCHAPTERLINE, ENDOFCHAPTERLINE**

--

**IMPORTANT NOTES, PLEASE READ FOR THE SAKE OF THE STORY**

**Me: Hi, hope you like the chapter. I wanted to keep going until Gaara meets Sasuke, but the chapter's getting a little long, and I wanna keep them decently sized. **

**Yeah, I know, it seems that Gaara and Soru and Naruto became friends a little too soon, but this is a Gaara/Soru story, and of course, it's gonna have to take time for the two to bond, so I need as many days of the month of October in the story to include bonding. Heh, the next chapter might be a little more interesting…Gaara's gonna meet Sasuke and Soru learns more about the mysterious vampire! Please review!**

**(By the way, please tell me, have you ever tasted seltzer water? And if you haven't…you've been warned…)**

**And I'm also taking a vote...tell me if you want Temari and Kankuro to come into the story.**


	4. Vampire, Meet DuckButtHead

Me: HI

**Me: HI! This chappie contains an explanation of Gaara's past. I warn you, it's a little long, so please try and have the patience to read the whole thing without getting bored! Thanks! Hope you like!**

--

_"Oh yeah, hey, Gaara?"_

_"…?"_

_"Can Naruto and I introduce you to Sasuke, our co-worker? Please, we're not showing you off, if that's what you think, we just want you to meet him!"_

_Gaara frowned, not looking too pleased with the thought, and surprised me with his answer. "Fine." _

_I gasped and bounced up and down, clapping with joy. Yayness!_

**Normal POV**

Gaara watched as the girl exerted her glee, jumping and leaping around the room like a wild-woman. He folded his arms across his chest, staring, waiting for her energy to deplete. And eventually, it did.

Grinning so much, she thought her teeth were going to crack, she looked at Gaara. "How 'bout right now?!"

He raised an eyebrow muscle, expressing his confusion.

"He's here…right now. You wanna meet him now? Or do ya wanna wait? I suggest right now, 'cause then you can get it over with." Soru chattered, and Gaara had to listen carefully and closely to even understand everything she was saying.

He blinked once, and shrugged nonchalantly. "Now is fine."

Soru squealed again, and raced out the door to fetch the two other boys, who were currently concealed behind the curtains.

The teen dashed through the kitchen, dining room, and was about to burst into the living room when she heard a woman's voice.

"-umsy idiots. Can't walk in a straight line when they're scared."

Soru gasped sharply, hand frozen on the knob of the door that separated the two rooms. She'd forgotten all about Ms. Mitarashi. Peering through the space at the bottom of the door, she spotted her boss' feet near the couch, next to a wax dummy. The wax dummy's feet were moving, and Soru guessed that Ms. Mitarashi was fixing him. Funny, she hadn't noticed that the dummy had moved at all. Everything had looked pretty normal when she and Naruto and Sasuke had walked in. Then she smacked herself on the forehead. Of course, Naruto wasn't exactly graceful…

Suddenly, Ms. Mitarahsi's feet began to approach the door, and Soru leapt to her own. Panic set in, and she ran back into the kitchen, and just in time as she heard the dining room door open. Sighing, she tried to relax, but soon heard the woman's footsteps nearing the door she'd recently dodged behind. Soru was off like a shot, desperate not to let Ms. Mitarashi catch her. She flung open the door to the hall that led to the library, and closed it with more force than necessary, which caused her to blanch. Ms. Mitarashi would've had to have been really deaf not to hear that…

She fled as fast as her legs could carry her without making too much noise, and charged into the library.

Gaara, who was leaning against a bookshelf, looked up, expecting to see Soru and Naruto grinning as an unknown boy entered the library with them, but he did not expect to see Soru tearing through, ashen faced and hurrying to shut the door. Standing up straight, he was about to ask what was wrong, when the girl gasped out, "Hide, hide, hide, hide, hide! Ms. Mitarashi's coming, HIDE!!"

And with that, she dived behind a bookcase, shaking with tremors of fear and panic. Adjusting the books so that they hid her face from the view of the door, she forced herself to calm down, and was just about to, when she realized that she hadn't heard her supernatural friend make an attempt to take cover.

Looking around the side of the bookcase, she saw him standing right where he'd been when she had run in, seemingly unconcerned with being discovered.

"Gaara!" Soru hissed, "Hide!"

"Be quiet. Shield yourself." He ordered, his tone a little softer than usual, not in a concerned way, but as if he was trying not to be heard.

Soru's desperate expression turned to one of despair, and she was about to argue, when the door opened, and a squeak came out of her mouth, which she quickly covered with her hand.

Ms. Mitarashi walked in, her gaze roaming this way and that, searching for something, and she noticed Gaara. Soru shut her eyes, and putting her hands over her mouth in defeat. He was caught.

"Hey Gaara."

"Anko."

Both Soru's eyes and mouth opened wide. She listened, astounded as can be as the two carried on a small conversation.

"Did anyone come in here?"

"Not at all."

"Oh…" Ms. Mitarashi sounded disappointed, "Thought I heard something."

When she didn't hear Gaara give a reply, Soru peeked around the side of the bookcase to see him shrugging. Despite the fact that she was terrified of being seen, Soru forgot about that for a moment to think, '_Would it kill you to say something you unsocial_ _bat-human_?'

"Hmph. Whatever. See ya."

"Farewell."

The door was again opened and closed, and Soru breathed a sigh of relief, sitting with her back to the bookshelf. She heard the carpet rustle to her left, and looked up to see Gaara, arms over chest, staring at her.

She stood up, glaring at him, and barraged him with angry questions, "You know her?! She knows you?! She knows _of_ you?!"

The boy in front of her still stared at the exasperated girl, her face reflecting disbelief and amazement. He merely nodded, only infuriating her more.

"HOW?!" she cried.

"That is my business."

"Ugh, fine, whatever. I'm gonna try to get Naruto and Sasuke again." Soru announced, strutting out the door, then seemed to realize that Ms. Mitarashi might still be in the building. She waited a few more moments, and then exited the room.

This time, she went along cautiously, warily glancing back and forth around corners, seeking out anything that could see her and fire her from her job. It wasn't too long before she made it to the living room without a hitch, and hurried over to the curtains, throwing them off the figures behind them.

Naruto pretended to scream, crying out in an imitation of a girl's voice, "Don't eat me, omigawsh!", which caused Soru to laugh until tears of mirth leaked out the corners of her eyes.

"So…what now, Dobes?" asked an obviously bored Sasuke, "Is this all you do?" His face turned from expressionless to mischievous, "Or do you guys find a discreet room and do something your parents should know about?"

Soru gasped and whirled to face the sneering raven haired boy, and was going to slap him, but thought better of it.

"You…you….you just shut up! We don't do anything like that! You shut _up_!" she snarled, glaring furiously, and Sasuke only smirked.

Shaking her head, Soru turned her back on them, saying, "Well, come on. You've got to see something, Sasuke."

Naruto followed at the back, Sasuke in the middle, and Soru leading them through the rooms to the library. '_And Sasuke's demise_,' she thought, finding humor in it, but knew that nothing like that was going to happen. A girl could hope, though, couldn't she?

Once they got to the library door, Soru stepped aside, gesturing with both arms to the entrance to the book-filled room.

"Go on, Duck-Butt-Head. You first."

Sasuke scowled at her as she tried not to laugh, and he opened the door, then entered. Soru examined the room from the doorway, not being able to see Gaara. She looked at Naruto, who shrugged, then grinned and walked in after the elder boy.

**Soru's POV**

I was disappointed, for I had wished that Gaara would be standing in the same spot as earlier, but he evidently was not. Feeling a little ripped off, I too went past the doorway into the room, still whipping my head around, trying to spy the sexy vampire. I didn't want to call out to him and ruin the surprise for Sasuke, but waiting for him to show himself was turning out to be futile.

I took a breath and was about to get him to come out, but he beat me to it by suddenly appearing behind Sasuke….which caused me snort in an attempt to hide a laugh.

Sasuke looked at me, one eyebrow raised. "Well," he said, "What's so spectacular? It's just a bunch of books. I swear, you two are getting dumber by the day."

"No they aren't. They merely wanted me to meet you."

I almost died of laughter as Sasuke whirled around to face Gaara, looking as if he'd just about leapt out of his skin. The black haired boy backed up, almost tripping over his feet as he gaped at the vampire who'd scared him out of his wits.

Naruto edged over to me and whispered, "I think he just about crapped his pants." I again snorted at this comment, unable to suppress a giggle, which the two other boys noticed, and they looked at me.

I blinked as they stared questioningly at me, and I felt my face go red. Under the pressure of their eyes, I couldn't hold it in anymore, let out a whoop, and began to laugh. Cackling, I fell to my knees, which had gone weak in my bouts of laughter as even Naruto gave me a 'You-are-an-odd-person' look.

It took a while, but I managed to control myself, and got to my feet once more. They were all still staring at me, so I took charge and walked over to Gaara and Sasuke.

"Gaara," I said to the red head, "Meet Sasuke," I put my hand on Duck-Butt-Head's shoulder, "Sasuke," I said to him, "Meet Gaara the vampire." I put my hand on the supernatural's shoulder, and found that it was cold. Way cold. He flinched under my touch, and I quickly removed my hand, whispering a small, "Sorry."

The two locked eyes, and began to glare at each other. I watched from the sidelines, about three feet away from them, wondering what was agitating them. It looked as if they wanted to rip each others internal organs out. I was going to ask, when Sasuke said, "Vampire? Are you kidding me? _Vampire_?!"

He sneered at Gaara, whose glare became even fiercer, and continued, "You can't expect me to believe that. This guy looks like he'd faint just from the very sight of blood. Pff, in fact, he looks faggy."

My eyes widened, and I stepped forward, punching Sasuke in the shoulder. It was only half-hearted, because I'd never actually hit someone before, but it still caused him to glare at me and take a step back. Rubbing his shoulder, he growled out, "Ow, what was that for, you dumbass?"

No sooner than he'd gotten those words out of his mouth, Gaara grabbed the collar of his work uniform, forced his face close to Sasuke's, and said in a dangerously low tone, "I do not understand what the term, 'faggy', means, though I judged from Soru's reaction that it is an insult. It did not matter to me what you thought of me, for I could see in your face that your approval is worth nothing. But I understand that you've just insulted her. I warn you not to do such, as I will not take kindly to it." And with that, he tossed Sasuke away from him like a piece of trash. I raised my eyebrows as I realized that this was the most I'd ever heard him say at once.

Sasuke rose to his feet, his glare even more furious than before, and he turned to me. He opened his mouth to say something, when Gaara again grabbed him, but this time dug his nails into the other boy's arm.

"I suggest that you _hold your tongue_."

I remembered that he'd said the same thing to me in the same tone some days ago, which made me shiver. Letting go of Sasuke, Gaara backed away, and Duck-Butt-Head copied him, and then looked at his arm. The cloth of the uniform was ripped in four different spots, indicating where Gaara's talon-like nails had pierced, and it seemed to take him completely be surprise. He looked up at the vampire, astonished, but he recovered, and spat, "You're a freakin' monster is what you are."

"Sasuke!" It was my turn to surprise him, and Naruto and Gaara as well, as I put my hands on his shoulders, and kneed him right between the legs. No one says such things to my sexy vampire! Well, okay, he technically wasn't mine, but whatever. He was my friend, and maybe I could handle him calling Gaara a fag, but a monster? For some reason, that just plain made me angry. He'd acted prejudice toward Gaara unfairly, calling him that terrible name, and I took more offense to it than fag.

Duck-Butt-Head fell to the ground, hands at his crotch, gritting his teeth, and Naruto came over, trying to help him out of the room, seeing that he and the vampire needed to be separated like fighting kids. Sasuke limped out with the help of the blonde, and Naruto paused at the door to say, "I understand how you feel Soru…" he shook his head, "But that was just brutal. Don't ever do that when I'm around, okay?" and he followed Sasuke out.

I snorted at his words. I swear, he was so funny. Remembering that Gaara was still present, and I faced him again to see his arms folded, his head bowed, and his expression a bit pained. I became slightly alarmed, and took quick strides over to him, putting a hand on his shoulder again, despite the cold.

"Hey, Gaara, uh, are you okay, dude? Gaara? Gaara?! Answer me, please!" I begged, shaking him a little. He suddenly whipped his head up to look at me, and shrugged my hand off his shoulder.

"I am fine."

"You didn't look fine…" I retorted, as he took some steps away from me, but I followed, keeping the same amount of space between us. He gave me a glare, though it wasn't angry. Instead, it was more frustrated that I refused to let the subject go. When I want to learn more about something, then I sure as heck make sure I do, that's a thing he needs to learn about me!

Tilting my head, I asked, "It's about what he called you, isn't it?"

The vampire's expression changed. It still held some exasperation, though it was different somehow. Maybe it was how his eyebrow muscles twitched in acknowledgement of what I'd said, or how his eyes seemed to bore heavily into mine. I wasn't sure, but that confirmed my theory.

"Is it because you're a vamp?"

The frown disappeared, leaving his face clear of emotion, and I didn't have the slightest idea of what he was thinking. I seriously needed Naruto. He was good at this sort of thing.

"You don't like being known as a monster just because of what you are, is that it?" I pressed. He shifted his gaze to the carpet, and I lost hope. I was questioning him way too soon. He needed time to be ready to confess anything, and I'd known him for five days, only been friends for two of those five. Barely friends at that.

"Well, I'll leave you to yourself then, if that's what you want. See ya later." I said, turning to exit.

"Yes." His voice stopped me in my tracks, and I looked at him. He was staring at the floor with a peculiar expression, though once again I couldn't sort it out. I found myself desperately wanting to know his thoughts.

"Vampires have been…thought of as predators from the beginning, though they earned that reputation themselves." He said, and I could tell that a story was coming, so I turned completely towards him, curious as to what he was going to say next.

"No one really knows when the first one was born or created, it's just known that whoever it was, they thirsted greatly for blood." Gaara looked up at me, his whole face seeming to drop. His eyes were half-lidded, the corners of his mouth were turned down more that usual, and he seemed to have a hard time making eye contact with me.

He continued, "For generations, that had been going on. More vampires were born, or bitten by vampire bats, and not one was an exception to the want for blood. That is, or at least this is the story, until one vampiress saw humans showing affection towards one another. Un-lustful affection that was not present in vampire cultures at the time. She found herself wanting such affection, and sought a human mate for herself. She indeed fell in love with a human man, he with her, and she gave birth. Afterwards, the vampiress and her human husband found that their child was, in fact, vampiric."

"The father, having been informed of his wife's species, knew that if not taught any different, the child, too, would develop a craving for blood. The vampiress was aware of this too, and they dedicated themselves wholly to teaching the child of love. Love that only humans gave at that time. And so it began."

"Generation after generations of vampires have been born, some taught to love, some taught to lust and drink of blood."

Here, Gaara paused, looking off to the side. I took my chance to ask a question that had been burning in my mind for a few moments.

"What were you taught?" I said tentatively.

Gaara sighed, and it almost went unnoticed. I barely managed to catch it. "My mother was loving, my father lustful," he said, "My mother had given birth to my sister and brother before she realized what my father was like. In finding out, she attempted to shield them from him, and she succeeded, until she gave birth to me. The effort was too much for her, and she passed away as I came into the world, which left me to my father. Since my mother no longer interfered, he took advantage and I was to be his apprentice, you could say."

"My siblings watched from the sidelines as I was taught by my father. Eventually, I found out that he'd given an order for a demon to be put inside of me before I was even born, which assisted in my mother's death. Though, as I grew, he became wary of the demon within me. It was called Shukaku. I was left in the care of my uncle, whom was human, for my grandparents were not both vampires. If only one of the parents is a vampire, that means there is only a fifty percent chance of the child being a vampire. My uncle was the one to receive the human genes."

Gaara stopped for a second and looked at me, probably making sure I was paying attention. Seeing that I was listening intently with wide eyes, he went on in his explanation.

"As time progressed, more people came to know of how unstable I was. You see, where I grew up, humans and vampires lived together under a truce, so it was mandatory for vampires to control their cravings for blood. Of course, having a demon inside of me, obtaining that level of control was unbelievably tough. That, and having a father who trained me to drink blood. It was horrible."

A sound of concern came from the back of my throat, and he paused, but I nodded at him to continue.

"Eventually, my father decided to have me killed, for if I lost control, then he would be found out. Even though it was his fault," Gaara growled inaudibly, "He asked my uncle specifically to do so, and not once did my uncle hesitate, having felt hate towards me for taking the life of his beloved sister. His assassination was unsuccessful. My father gave up training me, seeing how dangerous I'd become."

He stopped again, giving me yet another chance to ask a question, "Where were your brother and sister in all this?"

"My father made sure that I made no contact with them, since my mother had taught them first of love. He didn't want them influencing me. I do not know what they did during the first few years of my life. After a while, when I was too far gone to fix, they began to tail along with me more often, obviously making sure that I wouldn't attack anyone."

I nodded, picturing it in my mind. Like two nurses following a mentally ill person.

"Then the day came that I stayed out in the sun too long…" said the vampire, and I came out of my thoughts to listen, "People who were around at the moment recognized me, and saw their chance. They took me to a church, and had the Shukaku exorcised out of me. That changed and exhausted me. It also calmed my bloodlust, but only by a little. I was taken to a hospital to recover. There was when I changed altogether."

His face became distant, and I realized how important that was to him.

"As I lay in my bed, I thought of my past. I looked over to the other bed in the room, and saw a boy about my age. The top of his head was hidden by curtain, but I could see that his eyes were bandaged. A nurse came in, asking me if I was alright. She left shortly after giving me sleep aiding medication. I heard her talking to someone outside the door, but could not make out the words before I fell asleep."

"I woke up a while later, and let out a groan of weariness. That's when my roommate first talked to me. 'You awake?' he asked me. I groaned loudly to assure him of this. 'I heard the nurses talking, ya know…' he'd said. I grunted. 'I heard about what you are, what you're like…' I found that I wished him to shut his mouth, but was unable to speak."

" 'And…I know what it's like…to be alone…I heard voices telling me to do bad things…but I made friends, and the voices went away…I love my friends with all my heart…I owe them for taking away my loneliness…you should try to make some, too. You'll do better.'"

"In my weakened state, I listened and made sense of the world around me, so I was not dense or unthinking to his words. I thought about what he'd said, and acknowledged that what he told me was true."

Gaara sighed. "That's the last I'd heard from him…until now,". I gasped, having followed his story with the utmost interest, and I was excited to know that he felt docile towards someone besides me or Naruto.

"Naruto Uzumaki…" he said. It took a few seconds for me to register this, and when I did, BOOM.

"Naruto?!" I shouted, taken way by surprise. Gaara nodded, saying, "Yes, I realized that your friend was him when I heard his voice."

My hands went in all directions as I tried to figure out what to say. Eventually, it came out like this, "You know Naruto?! How come you didn't tell us?! He apparently doesn't know you! What the heck?!"

Gaara stared calmly at me and said, "I found no need to inform you or him."

I gave him a dumbfounded look, finding his statement irritating. He found no need…pff! And Naruto was the one who had changed his thoughts on the world! What was the sexy vampire thinking?! I turned my back on him and rushed to the door, and saw no one there. Saying, "Stay here," to Gaara, I ran down the hall, and found the boys in the dining room. Grabbing Naruto's arm, I dragged him away from Sasuke, chattering about how he just _had_ to come with me.

I got him into the library, and shoved him in, sending him sprawling onto the floor. I helped him to his feet, then yelled, "You didn't recognize him?!"

Naruto looked at Gaara, then at me. "Who're you talking to?" he asked.

"Oh my gosh!" I cried out, and gestured at Gaara, "You didn't recognize him?! He flippin' recognized _you_!" Naruto raised an eyebrow at me, and frowned.

"He what? But Soru, we just met…"

"NO!" I shrieked, "YOU MET HIM. In a flippin' HOSPITAL. You _talked_ to him."

Naruto's frown became more serious as his eyes flicked back to Gaara. "That was you?" he inquired.

Gaara nodded. Naruto's eyes widened more than I thought a person's eyes could go, and he stared disbelievingly at the vampire, who coolly looked back. The blonde was completely baffled.

"Well, hey! How was my advice working?" he asked, no longer amazed, but amused. Gaara shrugged and said, "I suppose it has been helpful."

I now had a question for Naruto. "I remember you being gone from school for awhile about two years ago. Why exactly were you in the hospital with your eyes bandaged?" He laughed sheepishly, and scratched the back of his head.

"Um, well, let's say that Kisame doesn't take well to being called 'fish-man'. So he punched my eyes."

I gave him a skeptical look. "And you had to go to the hospital for that?"

"Hey, you have no idea how hard he hit me!" he defended, and I rolled my eyes.

Remembering Gaara, I looked at him. He was staring at Naruto, face expressionless once more, but it seemed that he felt my eyes on him, and he looked at me. I just kept my stare up for a few more moments, then he raised an eyebrow muscle, which caused my heart to flutter and my stomach to leap. I gave up on my common sense, and rushed him. He had no time to react as I tackled him, yet he was able to stay on his feet.

"I feel so sorry for you!" I blubbered, "Can I be your friend?! Please?!"

I felt his arms moving, his hands making their way to my shoulders, and he pushed me away. I, fortunately for him, graciously let go and stared into his eyes.

"We have already established said friendship. Have I not told you about the hugs?" he accused, and I grinned.

"Sorry, couldn't resist." I said, hoping he'd accept that. He did, but still glared softly at me.

"Do your best to resist in the future." He commanded, and I saluted him.

A voice at the door interrupted the moment, and I felt quite angry at the person who it came from. "Well, Dobes, it's late. I'm going home. I don't know about you two…" he rested his gaze on Gaara, "See ya, monster."

Gaara's eyes formed a furious glare, and I put my hand on his arm. I really wanted it to be his hand, but I didn't think that was a smart move at the moment. He glanced at me, and I said, "He's just baiting you. Calm down." He twitched under my hand like before, but wasn't as rejecting to my touch.

Sasuke left, and silence lingered in the room for a bit, then I said, "It _is_ a little late. Should we go yet?" Naruto checked his watch, and shrugged.

"Yeah, kinda. It would be a good idea to get on the road back home." He said, sounding reluctant, and that's exactly how I felt. Well, I sorta felt both ways. I wanted to stay because of Gaara, but I also wanted to leave so I could gather my thoughts as I stared up at the ceiling above my bed.

I smiled sadly at the vampire, who inclined his head at me. This again made my heart beat a little faster, and I was relieved when he did the same to Naruto. Though, I would've definitely been more satisfied with him taking my hand, and kissing it, then wrapping his arms around me in a hug as he purred gentle goodbyes into my ear-

Woah, woah, woah! Quit! I felt my face burning as I stopped my train of thought before it went any further, and hoped that neither boy saw this. I gave it away though, when I let out a giddy giggle. When they looked at me, it made me laugh even harder, and I gave an excuse as to why this was.

"Sorry! Just remembering a funny joke someone told me at school today!" I waved a hand in the air for reassurance.

A few moments passed, then Naruto said, "Okay, whatever, weirdo!"

I stopped laughing, and pulled a straight face as I said, "You're not much better."

Naruto laughed at this statement, and turned to leave, still chuckling. He said a goodbye to Gaara, and I followed suit.

I was just out the door when I heard Gaara say, "I do not believe that you were merely laughing at a joke." I looked at him, feeling my face go red, and willed it to go away, which made it burn even more.

Gaara's face was completely serious, and I panicked. "I'm sorry, Gaara, I meant no offense toward you! I just…it…just…it's not important! But just know that I was _not_ laughing at you!" I quickly explained, and he still didn't seem to believe me, but he let me go anyway.

"You are certainly odd." He told me. I grinned at him.

"The thoughts are mutual!" I said, giving him a thumbs-up like I had done to Itachi. Gaara shook his head, and I giggled, then tried to leave again, but a sudden thought hit me.

"Hey, um," I said slowly, turning back to Gaara, "Why exactly were you so angry when Sasuke called me that bad name? Seriously, I thought we weren't the best of friends yet..."

Gaara blinked at me, then shook his head again. "I do not know. Just get out." His words were so final, that I decided that it was best just to leave.

As Naruto and I walked back home, we discussed everything Gaara had told me, and agreed not to tell Sasuke. The guy did not need more evidence of Gaara being like a monster.

"Hey," said Naruto as if realizing something, "What if he tells people at school about Gaara?!" he gasped, panicked. I calmed him down by telling him that even if Sasuke said anything, no one would believe him, and that was probably true. Hopefully.

Once we were just outside the gates, I looked over my shoulder, and could barely see one window of the House of Spook. I saw the outline of something in it, and stopped, trying to see it more clearly. It looked like a person's outline, and a chill went down my spine as I thought of ghosts. It disappeared a second later, and in my inner mind, I saw Gaara.

'_Of course_,' I thought, '_The most that will ever haunt that place is my_ beloved _vampy_.'

With these comforting thoughts, I hurried to catch up to Naruto and returned home.

**Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

**Normal POV**

Gaara watched out the window once more as his newest friends exited the carnival grounds. He didn't know why, but since they'd become his friends, he felt drawn to watching them leave every night. Why, he wasn't sure of. Did it amuse him? Deep down, he felt a certain concern for them. It wasn't very meaningful, but he felt guilty if he thought of not seeing them go. As if his eyes could protect them…was that what he wanted? To make sure that they left safely? It sort of made sense…but it also didn't in a way. They hadn't been friends for a long time at all…why did he feel so…responsible?

Suddenly, Soru turned back to the mansion, and Gaara quickly stepped out of sight. Again, he asked himself 'why?', why didn't he want her to see him? He just shook his head. Too many questions. Another one was why did he so readily tell her of his past? Maybe because his mental state was already beat down by the raven haired one's remark. Maybe it was because it had been so long since anyone had talked to him…so long since anyone had known of his past…perhaps he just wanted to get it off his chest…the buried emotions were starting to rise to the surface again.

He gave up on thinking, and returned to the library, unknowing of the other visitor's he'd be getting the next night.

**Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

**Me: So there's an explanation of his past! What did you think? I thought it was pretty good. The best I can think of at 12:38 a. m. Ha, lol. So yeah, you get a cupcake if you can guess who his new visitors are going to be! **

**By the way, I'll try to get another chapter up before the 25****th****, cause that's when school will start again for me. I might get one up, I might not. Just wait and see. Review please! **


	5. What to do today? And wait, siblings!

Me: LOL

**Me: LOL.**

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

_Suddenly, Soru turned back to the mansion, and Gaara quickly stepped out of sight. Again, he asked himself 'why?', why didn't he want her to see him? He just shook his head. Too many questions. Another one was why did he so readily tell her of his past? Maybe because his mental state was already beat down by the raven haired one's remark. Maybe it was because it had been so long since anyone had talked to him…so long since anyone had known of his past…perhaps he just wanted to get it off his chest…the buried emotions were starting to rise to the surface again._

_He gave up on thinking, and returned to the library, unknowing of the other visitor's he'd be getting the next night._

**Day Six-Sunday**

**Soru's POV**

'It's still the weekend…' I thought as I got dressed for a day of nothingness until seven-thirty tonight. I put on my 'relaxation' clothes which consisted of a red t-shirt and some ripped up jeans, and went over the possible activities I could do today while chewing on some cereal.

Let's see, one of my favorite things to do on days that I basically had nothing to do was bother Sasuke, but I was still pretty ticked off at him after last night, so I dismissed that idea. Another was hanging out around the playground that was in the park, but I liked going there when there weren't many people around, and that wasn't very possible on a Sunday. I could visit Naruto, but he was helping Iruka-san paint their kitchen, so he was busy. And then it struck me.

I could help them!

So that was how I ended up putting on some running shoes and heading over to their house. It really wasn't that far away from mine, maybe a mile or so away, and it was easy to get there in a reasonable amount of time. It was eleven o'clock a.m. at that moment.

When I arrived at the place, I stopped in the yard to see if I could see them from where I was and get their attention. Nope. It was two stories like mine, but had more windows, probably because it was a fancy old Victorian style house. I really liked it, but I would never go in alone. My fear of ghosts, remember?

The two large windows in front of the house showed the dining room to the right, the living room to the left, and I knew that the kitchen was right behind the dining room, so I couldn't see it. That is, if I went around to the backyard and looked in the kitchen window, I definitely could. But it gave me a guilty feeling in my stomach, and I felt that if I did that, it would seem like trespassing, even if I was friends with Naruto.

I decided on just walking up onto the porch and ringing the doorbell. I considered mimicking Naruto yesterday in how he rang the Uchiha's doorbell, but I was working on earning brownie points with Iruka-san, so that might not work out so well. I rang the bell once, and waited. I heard the 'clomp-clomp' of shoes across a wooden floor, and the door opened to reveal a curious-looking Iruka-san.

Upon seeing me, he smiled politely, saying, "Soru-chan, what a surprise! Naruto's in the kitchen if you want to see him." He stepped aside, holding the door open for me, which I thanked him for.

"Hey, Naruto told me you were painting today, right?" I asked, though the smell confirmed this before Iruka-san answered.

"Why, yes, we are. Are you here to help?"

"Why, yes I am!" I said cheerfully, and then added, "If that's alright with you…"

Iruka-san beamed at me as he led me through the dining room, "Of course it's alright, and help is very welcome right now, thank you!"

I smiled and followed him into the kitchen where Naruto was perched precariously on the counter, painting carefully around the cupboards.

"Hey, Naruto, guess who's come to help!" said Iruka-san. Naruto turned his head, and nothing else, though I don't blame him, to see who his adoptive father was talking about. He spotted me and grinned, jumping off the countertop, with more grace than I thought he was capable of, to run and hug me.

"Soru! You're here, that's awesome!" he shouted in my ear, and I pushed him off, laughing.

"No I'm not, I'm still at home, Mr. Obvious!" I said, and he laughed as well.

"Well, I'm just glad you're here. What, did your parents ask you to come and help?" he asked, eyeing me suspiciously.

I snorted and narrowed my eyes at him in mock offense, telling him, "No. In fact, I am here of my own volition!"

He pretended to be surprised, and said, "Oh really? You felt that you just had to help you're friends in need?"

"No," I replied, "I was just bored. But if you wanna think that way, go ahead." This time I heard Iruka-san chuckle behind me, and I grinned. Oh yeah, brownie points!

After asking how I could help, I was handed a paint roller covered in a golden yellow color, and was assigned the job of painting along the base boards. And so there I was for the next two hours, crouching on the scattered newspaper on the ground and running the paint roller repeatedly back and forth on the wall. That took maybe one hour, and the next was spent on painting open wall.

My knees, back, and wrists were beginning to ache, and my nose was starting to sting from the paint fumes when Iruka-san announced that he needed to find the other can of paint that he'd bought. He left the room and I straightened up to stretch, bending backwards, hearing my spine crack a few times in a satisfying way. I again straightened to see a shocked looking Naruto staring at me.

"Good God, Soru, did that hurt?!" he asked, appalled.

"Nope," I answered, smiling innocently at him. He shook his head, muttering something along the lines of "unhealthy", and I stuck out my tongue at him. We stood there for a few more moments of silence, when Naruto piped up, "So what're we gonna do tonight with Gaara? We've already introduced Sasuke to him, so what does that leave?" I sighed, thinking '_Not much_,'. I turned my gaze to the ceiling, searching my mind for options. We could…talk…but what about? Though that was turning out to be the best idea after all, as I could think of nothing else.

"Erm, maybe talk to him?" I suggested.

"About what?"

I got an idea. "How about ask him personal questions, like his favorite things! You know, color, book, hobby, whatever comes to mind!"

Naruto nodded, but still looked as if he didn't agree with it. "Okay, what if we run out of questions? And besides, you know what he's like. He'll probably give one short answer per question, so we'll run out of 'em pretty fast."

I grimaced, nodding. True, what he said was true.

"Also," said Naruto, "I doubt he's been out of that place for years. He might not be up to date with certain things."

"Yeah," I agreed, nodding some more, when one of the things he'd said registered in my head. So Mr. Vampire probably hadn't left the House of Spook for years, huh? How convenient. "We could leave, all three of us!" I cried, bouncing on my toes in excitement, "You, Gaara, and me! We could leave the house and have a night out on the town! He never said he couldn't leave the place!"

Naruto's face brightened, "You're right! That's an awesome idea!" Then his expression returned to one of disappointment, "But we can't go very far. It's a school night, and we have to get home early, remember?"

I felt my face fall too, and I groaned. "Oh my gosh, you're right, I totally forgot. Bummer! Flipping bummer! Rar!" I kicked at the air for good measure, frowning at the floor, but Naruto again cheered me up.

"I guess we could walk around the carnival grounds. We've never actually seen what it looks like while we've been there since we've been doing our jobs and whatnot." He said. I gasped and clapped my hands, but stopped, for I had another sad thought.

"What if Gaara's already done that? I mean, it's a traveling carnival, so he might have looked around somewhere down the line."

Naruto's turn to frown. We were caught again, and were about to brainstorm some more, but Iruka-san came in at that moment with a whole other can of paint in hand.

"Found it!" he said happily, grabbing a screwdriver to pry the lid off of the can.

"We'll think about it later," I whispered to Naruto, who nodded, and we again began to paint once more, stopping a little while later to eat some lunch.

Another three hours later, the phone rang, and Iruka-san answered it. He came back and told me that it was my mom who'd called, and I was supposed to go home for dinner. I glanced at the clock to see that it was only four o'clock, and wondered why I was eating so early. My job didn't start for another three hours, what was the rush?

But in the end, I didn't want to get into trouble, so I said my goodbyes to Iruka-san, and a 'see ya later alligator' to Naruto, and headed home. When I got there, I had to resist glaring at my parents for making me come back so early, to which they explained that I had to do some chores around the house. Furious, I refused to eat supper until after I'd raked the leaves in the front yard, dusted my room, and picked up my books that lay in random places around the house, and this ticked off my parents slightly, so we were all snippy with each other when it came to dinner time.

I'd quickly devoured my sandwich, and said, "'Kay, I'm going to the carnival now, buh-bye, love you!", but was delayed when asked why I was leaving so soon. "Extra duties," I gave as an excuse, and was finally able to get out. Don't get me wrong, I do love them, but when one of us is angry, the other two become mad as well, until it's just a whole temper fest. Not fun I tell you. So I was pretty thankful to get out when I could.

Now it was around five-thirty, and I had nothing to do for the next thirty minutes since I normally started on my way over to the carnival around six. Woo for me. I decided to hang around the Konoha Park playground, and was glad to see that no one was there. I sat on a swing, and pushed myself slowly back and forth, staring at the clouds as they were unmercifully pushed by the wind. I was at peace and happy with life when I heard an unpleasant voice coming nearer.

"And this one could even blow up something as big as a refridgerator, un! And this one could blow up a car, un! I'm currently experimenting, and will hopefully be able to make one that can make our entire school explode, UN!!"

I leapt out of the swing, ready to high tail it out of there, but it was too late.

"Soru-chan, un!"

I turned slowly to see Deidara approaching me, a red haired boy whom I think was named 'Sasori', and a black haired boy with a mask on whose name I knew was 'Tobi' following him. Annoyed, I scowled at the blonde one. Sasori, I didn't care for much as we never really communicated at all, but Tobi and I were best buds. What can I say, he's a likable fellow.

"Tobi!" I cried, flinging myself upon the boy, who hugged me right back. "Soru-chan!" he mimicked.

"Hey, I'm right here, un. Can I get a little of that action, un?" Deidara asked in what he apparently thought was a seductive way. And heck, it might have made me blush a little if he just didn't do it so often. Besides, even if I wanted to date him, I heard he had about four girlfriends already. I wouldn't doubt it if Sakura was one of the sluts.

"Ah, no." was my monotone reply as I gave him a 'you-are-very-pathetic' look. Sasori merely stood off to the side, watching the three of us with little interest, if none at all. "And besides, even if I wanted to, which I don't, I have to go to my job!" I declared.

"Ooh, Soru-chan has a job!" cried Tobi, "What is it?! Tobi wants to know!"

"Tour guide at that carnival that opened for the month." I explained simply.

"The October one?" Sasori casually asked. I just stared at him. That makes…five total words he's ever said to me, the other two being 'excuse me' in a hallway once.

"Yeah, that one." I said, though it was tempting to say, 'No, the January one, smarty!' But that might assure me an instant and painful death. Not appealing. Especially now that I've found the love of my life. "So yeah, I'm going to go now. See ya'll at school. Bye Sasori. Bye Tobi!" I squeezed Tobi one last time before running off so that Deidara couldn't try and sneak a kiss on me.

As I ran I heard Deidara ask, "Why didn't she say bye to me, un?" and then Tobi answered, "Because you are perverted, Deidara is a bad boy!"

Then came a spluttering noise, and I was sure that Deidara was choking my poor friend, who began to cry out, "Do not hurt Tobi, Tobi is a good boy! Tobi is a good boy!" Shaking my head, I kept up a fast pace down the road to the carnival.

**Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Again, I went through the routine of getting my uniform on, then heading to the library to say hello to Gaara. I passed Ms. Mitarashi on the way, and I considered asking what she thought about Gaara being a vampire, but was in a hurry, so I let her go.

The library was the same as I remembered it, and so was my dearest vampire, who was currently standing in the usual place, still as a stone pillar. I went over to him, and stared at him until he looked at me.

His eyes flicked over to me, and I grinned at him. He arched an eyebrow muscle and I giggled. How fangirlish was I?

"Came to say hi Gaara! HI!!" I greeted him, waving happily at him.

He blinked and nodded once at me, and said, "Hello."

Satisfied with the small talk, I skipped out of the room to meet my co-workers at the door. Sasuke glared at me, and turned away, while I did the same to him. Naruto ran into the House of Spook to speak to Gaara as well.

While he was gone, I contemplated getting revenge on Sasuke. Was kneeing him in that certain place punishment enough? No way! It was war! WAR I SAY!!

I leaned over to him and said, "Watch your back, Duck-Butt-Head, you are so going to get it."

He replied by saying, "Right back at you." Naruto chose that time to burst out of the doors and bounce his way to us.

"Just said hi to Gaara!" he announced hyperactively, and Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"Quit affiliating yourselves with that monster, you Dobes," he said in a snarl, and I could sense the disapproval in his voice.

"Shut up, teme!" shouted Naruto, and I chimed in, "Yeah, leave my sexy vampire alone!"

It was too late when I realized that I'd said this, and the two boys looked at me. I felt my face go up in flames as they stared at me. Naruto in shock, then amusement, Sasuke in disgust and disbelief.

"What, are you in love with him?" Sasuke asked, sneering at me, "As if he even likes you. The whole friend thing is probably a joke to him."

I balled my hands into fists and swung one at him. I missed and spun into the ground, which made the prick laugh at me.

"You throw punches like a girl! Oh wait, you are one, my mistake." He mocked, and I aimed for his stomach, when Ms. Mitarashi stomped over.

"Are you three even ready yet?!" she yelled, "People are arriving, and ya'll are just yapping away! Look sharp, why don't you!" and she stormed off. I shared a look of humor with Naruto, a glare with Sasuke, and we took our positions.

Again, it was the same, groups of giggly girls, obnoxious boys, crying kids, and tired looking adults whom were most likely the parents of said children. Needless to say, it was getting easier and easier to deal with it all every night, as I practiced. We'd only been there six nights, yet I was already good at the whole tour guide thing. Maybe it was in my blood.

As the last party of people left, I felt myself becoming anxious to see Gaara soon. Scouting around for Ms. Mitarashi, Naruto and I ran back inside the House of Spook to hide behind the living room curtains, leaving Sasuke to his own devices.

Ms. Mitarashi came in later, as expected, to check on everything. Ho-hum. Or, at least, it was ho-hum until I heard a bang come from the library, which Ms. Mitarashi went to investigate. I waited until she was in the next room to peek out and exchange a questioning look with Naruto. We ducked back behind the curtains when we heard Ms. Mitarashi coming back.

Now I was almost vibrating on the spot, wanting desperately to see what Gaara had done. Once we heard the lock, well, lock, Naruto and I flew out of the curtains and through the other rooms leading to the library. Once in front of the door, we paused, wondering what to do.

I grabbed the doorknob, coming to a decision, and wrenched it open, shouting, "You alright, Gaara?!"

But when I barged in, I found myself running into something solid, but not hard. Thinking I'd run into Gaara, I apologized quickly, saying, "Oh, dang, sorry Gaara, my bad, I didn't mean t-," I stopped in mid-word upon seeing the one I ran into. It was not Gaara, which alarmed me.

It was a boy about Gaara's age, or seemed to be around his age, but this boy had light brown hair, not blood red. He stared down at me, looking slightly amused, and I found myself blushing. Though he wasn't as hot as Gaara, he could definitely count as eye candy.

When I didn't say anything right away, he offered a hand to me, which I gratefully took, but was then way surprised to find that it was cold like Gaara's. I stood up, trying to find the words to say, and what came out was, "Uh, s-sorry. Didn't mean to."

"That's quite alright," he said, and I noticed that he talked in the same polite dialogue as Gaara, "I'm quite happy to have a pretty girl run into me. It's not every day this happens. Won't you tell me your name?" He leaned toward me, his face just inches from mine, and my face might have been melting based on how hot if felt.

I tried to answer, but again it came out not how I wanted it to. I gave a low squeak. He chuckled, and that broke the tiny spell he seemed to have on me. Squeaking again, I looked around, and spotting Naruto and Gaara standing next to each other, I dashed over to them, and hid behind them.

"Who are you?" I demanded, poking my head out from behind Gaara's shoulder.

He chuckled again, and said, "My name, sweetie, is Kankuro. I would presume that you are Soru, judging by the way you act. My brother, Gaara, here has told us all about you and your friend." Us? What did he mean by 'us'? Brother? Is this one of the siblings Gaara was talking about?

Naruto outstretched his arms, shielding me from this Kankuro person, saying, "Stay away from her, you perv!" which caused Kankuro to snicker.

"Kankuro, leave her alone. She's Gaara's friend, which means she's not available." Came a female voice to the left, and I whipped my head around to see a girl who looked just a bit older than Gaara. She was blonde, but it was a less vibrant blonde than Naruto, but a little more golden than Ino's hair. Her hair was divided into four spiky, yet neat pigtails. She caught me looking at her, and she smirked. I just gave her a curious look.

"Aw, you're no fun, Temari." Whined Kankuro, and as I stared at the two newcomers, I realized something.

The two were dressed in apparel similar to Gaara's. Capes draped over their backs while the clothes underneath were all black. Yep, definitely Gaara's siblings.

As much as I wanted to avoid attention, I couldn't resist asking, "Are you two Gaara's siblings?" They seemed a little surprised by this inquiry.

"Yeah, he told you about us?" replied the girl, Temari. I nodded vigorously. "I see." She said, and gave Gaara what looked like a meaningful look. My eyes darted this way and that, me being nervous about finally meeting my dear vampire's infamous siblings. I looked at Kankuro, who caught me looking like Temari did, and smiled at me, then did that little eyebrow thing where he raised his eyebrows two times quickly.

Oh noes, had I met another Deidara? Was there no end to them?! Looking away, I blushed again.

Gaara's siblings, eh? Well this was unexpected…screw the person who said 'expect the unexpected'. I didn't even know what to expect!

**Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

**Me: Yes, I know this chapter was a little shorter than the others, but school is coming up, so expect that. Was that unexpected or not? **

**Gaara: You annoy me.**

**Me: Whatever……say it.**

**Gaara: No.**

**Me: Say it!**

**Gaara: No.**

**Me: Say it or I'll go fangirl over you!**

**Gaara: -makes scared face- Read and review please.**

**Me: That's right. –pats Gaara's head- I wuv you.**


	6. Getting To Know the Family

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

**Me: BOOM!!**

**Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

"_Yeah, he told you about us?" replied the girl, Temari. I nodded vigorously. "I see." She said, and gave Gaara what looked like a meaningful look. My eyes darted this way and that, me being nervous about finally meeting my dear vampire's infamous siblings. I looked at Kankuro, who caught me looking like Temari did, and smiled at me, then did that little eyebrow thing where he raised his eyebrows two times quickly. _

_Oh noes, had I met another Deidara? Was there no end to them?! Looking away, I blushed again. _

_Gaara's siblings, eh? Well this was unexpected…screw the person who said 'expect the unexpected'. I didn't even know what to expect!_

**Soru's POV**

Glancing once again back and forth from Kankuro, to Temari, to Gaara, to Naruto, I began to wonder, '_What now?_'. Here we were, just standing and staring at each other, and I made it an objective not to make direct eye contact with Kankuro again. There were a few more moments of silence, then…

"Hmph, well, since we're here, aren't you three going to show us around?" asked Temari, smirking at us and Kankuro grinned in agreement with her inquiry. I noticed that she did not speak as politely as her brothers.

"Show you around?" I asked, perplexed, "But this carnival thing has been going on for years now. Haven't you had enough time to walk around it?" and Naruto chimed in with a 'yeah!'.

"We have not been able to find where Gaara has been for the past two years," Kankuro replied, and I bowed my head, slightly embarrassed. Of course, what a simple answer. "In fact, it was just last night that we arrived here and found, to our greatest surprise, that our younger brother was living here."

I think that he was about to say something more, but I interrupted him by shrieking, "WHAT?!" and quickly demanding Gaara, "Why didn't you tell them where you were?!" The red-headed vampire calmly glared at me and said, "I did not know how to communicate to them. I assure you, should I have been informed of their location, I would've contacted them right away with utmost urgency, as they would've done for me."

Again, I was embarrassed at how easy it was to come to this conclusion, and why I didn't figure it out earlier. Now I felt like a real idiot. But when Naruto piped up with a question of his own, it made me feel better.

"Then why didn't you look for them? I mean, they were looking for you!" he pointed out.

Once more, Gaara answered with the same patience, "Exactly. They were on the move, searching for me. If I had been searching for them, there was more of a chance of by passing the other, and causing us to become separated even further. It was a better choice to settle down and let them find me. I knew that they would come to look for me, so there was no cause for alarm. They would've found me eventually, and here they are."

"And how did you three get separated in the first place?" said Naruto. Suddenly, tension seemed to grow in the air, and the vampires were quiet for a while, none making a sound until Naruto prompted, "Well? How'd you get separated?"

"Be patient Naruto, this isn't really our business," I hissed at my friend, gently elbowing him in the ribs. But Temari put up her hands, showing no harm done and saying, "Nah, it's alright. It's just tough to explain is all. Erm…where to start…." Her face became thoughtful, and Kankuro took over.

"You see, after a certain event two years ago concerning Gaara-,"

"The exorcism?" I guessed, and the brunette vampire blinked, apparently taken aback, his mouth a straight line.

"You know?" he asked, eyeing me suspiciously. I felt heat rising up in my cheeks, seeing that this was a matter supposed to be known only by the native people of Gaara's old village, yet I knew all about it. Or the gist of it at least….I looked at Gaara, hoping he'd say something. He glanced back at me, and sighed. Kankuro's gaze turned to his little brother.

"Gaara?"

Gaara nodded at Kankuro, and said, "She knows." I could tell from the surprise, even shock, in Kankuro's eyes that this was…rare for someone "outside" to know anything about it.

Raising his eyebrows, he turned back to me. "Yes, well, after Gaara's_ exorcism_," he said exorcism with a certain cautiousness, as if spoken too loudly, something or someone would leap out and grab him as punishment, "He still wasn't quite stable. His mind was still out of sync with the world. An aftershock of sorts. The villagers saw this, and came to a false realization that Gaara had to be sent away on a trip to calm his nerves." Here, the older boy frowned at the floor, gritting his teeth, and I realized that whatever had happened had made Kankuro really mad.

Turning his face back up to us again, he continued, "The problem was, the villagers never told Temari or I where they were sending Gaara. When we questioned them about this, they told us that seeing us again might trigger Gaara's memory, and in the end, awakening his demon. Foolish people, they didn't try to see that his memory was not tampered with at all. His demon was removed completely! FOOLS!!" He roared, his hands balling into fists and his face turning into a ferocious snarl. I was glad that I was not one of the villagers who had made the decision to send Gaara away, Kankuro looked so frightening, all traces of light-hearted flirtation gone. Woe be to those poor people. His demeanor had changed altogether from the boy I saw just minutes ago.

"So you couldn't find him, eh?" I said, and then frowned at Gaara, "Why didn't you go back to the village?"

Gaara gave me a despising look and shook his head. "I was not to go back." Dumbfounded, I was about to ask him what that meant, but Temari took liberty of explaining before I could get a word in.

"In other words, the villagers didn't read us all the rules about sending him away, which mysteriously included that Gaara stay away. Somehow that worked itself into the rule book." She sneered to herself, probably imagining the villagers like Kankuro had. I tried to imagine them, too, a bunch of old, maybe middle aged, faceless people, declaring that Gaara was no longer allowed in the village.

"I was drugged when sent away," said Gaara, "To ensure the safety of the individuals that were carrying me farther and farther away from my home. The drugs used on me were the strongest they could find, and my mind was in a fog for days. I can only remember the faces of my escorts and being on different modes of transport. A train here and there. Perhaps even on a boat once."

He was then quiet, and I thought about what he told me before asking a final question, "How'd you end up here?" Temari and Kankuro both seemed to become more alert when I voiced this, and they too listened intently to what Gaara had to say.

"Only one escort stayed with me the whole time. The others were afraid that the drugs were wearing off, and they were right. I was finding myself more and more aware of what was going on with each passing day. The one escort left is who you know to be Ms. Mitarashi, or Anko."

I let out an "Oh!" of being caught off guard, and Naruto shouted, "WHAT?! Ms. Anko, er, Mitarashi?!"

Gaara nodded. "She stayed with me, for whatever reason I am not sure of, perhaps she was intrigued by me. We were never friends, but we were also never enemies. Eventually, two years ago, she told me of a job she had gotten us. She was to be manager of an annual carnival funhouse, and I was to be a wax dummy in said house. Here I have lived ever since."

And the tale came to an end. Now I knew most everything about my beloved former-wax dummy, and his past. At least, all that I wished to know.

"You know," I said, realizing something, "Only a few days ago, I never woulda thought that you could talk that much." I told Gaara. Temari snorted in humor, and Kankuro let out a chuckle.

Gaara merely shrugged and replied, "There are times when things must be told. And if you told any of your other friends about it, who would believe you except for the foolish and naïve? These secrets are safe, whether you choose to share this information or not."

Secrets. He used the word _secrets_. Meaning that even if no one would believe me, these stories were supposed to be kept in our minds, and not soul to be told.

Feeling the need to do something, I saluted the sexy vampire, saying, "Your wish is my command."

Again, I heard sounds of amusement come from his siblings. He shook his head at me, apparently I was a lost cause. Somehow, that thought made me smile.

I looked back at Naruto to see what he was doing during all this, and he all of a sudden said excitedly, "So now that we're all done here, how 'bout that tour?!"

**Normal POV**

Naruto and Soru dashed back out of the library with the three vampires trailing behind, and they all used the normal escape route out of the mansion: the window of the living room. Stepping out into the dirt, it was then that Soru once again realized something randomly.

"Well, what now? I don't even know where to go! I haven't even explored this place myself!" she cried, arms waving in the air to show her distress at this problem.

Naruto gave her a thumbs up, and boldly said, "Don't worry, Soru! I did that the first day we worked here! I know where everything is!" As Soru looked at him, she was reminded of Lee giving his nice guy pose.

She was then taken by surprise when Gaara offered, "I, too, know of the locations of every stand in this area. I will show you around. Naruto, will you show Kankuro and Temari around? That way this will be done faster." Soru almost let out a cry of disappointment at this statement, wanting to spend as much time as possible with him, but then remembered that she and Naruto had to be home at a fairly decent time. Taking too much time was not a great idea.

So that was how the five split into two groups, Naruto taking charge of the siblings, going to the left, while Gaara guided Soru through the stalls and stands to the right.

As they went along, Soru looked around. Being in the middle of a forest, the tall trees acted as a fence, showing the edge of the carnival grounds while the different attractions made a maze in the center. It was evident that humans had cleared out a large circle of land in the middle of the trees for the carnival a few years back.

Scuffing her black slipper-like shoes on the dusty path, her head swiveled this way and that, observing Halloween-based game booths and food stalls. Occasionally, she'd catch a whiff of hot dogs or popcorn when turning her head. Gaara said nothing as they walked along, and Soru figured that he assumed that she knew what things were, that she only needed him as help not to get lost. And be that a little true, she still wanted at least a small sign of life from him besides his thoughtful, yet blank eyes, and his being able to walk. She wanted to talk, have a conversation. Even awkward small talk would be better than this silence.

About ten minutes into the "tour", Soru spotted a game booth that she'd always favored. A ring toss.

"Hey, look!" she said, and approached the booth, Gaara following slowly behind her. She stopped abruptly in front of it, her dress swishing by her ankles in the sudden halt in leg movement as she examined it. A wooden desk separated carnival visitors from the group of items that the rings were supposed to be thrown on, which, to Soru's mild surprise, were not the classic bottles, but miniature shapes of medieval weapons like spears and spiked mauls. After a moment's pondering, she scampered around to the back of the booth, returning to the front shortly with several darkly colored rings in her hands.

Giving Gaara, who emotionlessly watched, a quick grin, she faced the booth, and taking one ring in her right hand, she narrowed her eyes, then tossed the ring. As it came close to slipping over a grotesque looking sword, it seemed as if it made a split decision and avoided the thing completely. Soru's mouth came open slightly, and she tried again, aiming for a slim arrow. The ring should have gone over the broad arrowhead, but again the ring bounced back and away.

"Hey!" Soru cried out in surprise, and turned to Gaara. "Did you see that?!" she asked, her expression dumbfounded. Gaara simply nodded, his own expression not once changing.

"What was that about?! Why'd it do that?!" she demanded. "Th-that's not supposed to happen!"

Fuming at the occurrence, she took another ring in her hand and tossed it towards another easy target. Another bounce back. "Rip off! RIGGED!! It's flippin' rigged!!" Soru raged, glaring fiercely at the booth. Suddenly, the rings were being tugged from her left hand, and she turned to see Gaara. Letting go of one of the rings, she watched as Gaara silently held it up for her to see. He ran a talon-like fingernail along the side of it, and eventually, it split in half.

Soru's eyebrows went up, thinking that he'd unintentionally broken it, but upon further inspection, saw that it was meant to be split. The vampire held one half out to her, and she scrutinized it. What she saw was several sections of something silver running along the inside. She gave Gaara a questioning look. Registering her clueless ness, he walked to the back of the booth, and came back with a miniature spear in hand, similar to the ones used in the booth.

He held the ring and spear up so Soru could see them clearly, and tried to loop the ring around the spear. But as soon as it came close to going over, the ring began to move back, resisting the attempts at fitting it over the spear.

Soru gazed at it for a second, for it had reminded her of some other object. Then she realized, '_Magnets_!' after noting that the behavior and movements of the ring were exactly like that of two magnets of the same charge being forced together.

"It's magnets!" she gasped at Gaara, who nodded, "It _is_ rigged! Why didn't you tell me?" she growled at him.

He gazed back and her and said, "I knew you would eventually figure it out. Though I thought you could've done that on your own. Then again, you never were the brightest person." And he started walking again, turning his back on her. "Come, we are wasting time with this foolishness."

Astounded, Soru followed him after returning the rings to the back of the booth, and berated him, "If we were wasting so much time, why didn't you stop me, then, if we were in such a rush?" Now she was frustrated with him, with his sudden arrogance.

"I was intrigued as to what you would do when seeing that the rings would not do what you expected." He mildly answered, unaffected by her show of anger. Huffing, Soru kept up with him, which was not much of a challenge, considering how slow, yet graceful his strides were. Instantly her frustration with him disappeared as she watched him walk.

His face was expressionless, but didn't give the impression of being blank. His body barely moved, yet he did not seem stiff. He was very handsome, and Soru loved it. But she couldn't help but feel a little pathetic. She was just like Sakura and Ino, falling in love with his looks at first sight.

As they walked, Soru thought about this. Was she truly in love with him?...Of course. Even if it was a bit infuriating sometimes, she loved his silent, calm personality, his nonchalant approach at things, and his silent wonder at having friends for the first time. These things sent the butterflies in her stomach all a-whirl. She really did think she loved who he was.

She stopped her thoughts there, shaking her head, seeing that she was not paying attention to the tour, and realizing that if she didn't, she could easily get lost one day.

Picking up the pace, she strolled easily ahead of Gaara, head held high with her nose in the air. Maybe he'd see how mildly offended she was at him. But as they walked, Soru observing the many attractions, he did nothing but follow her like she had him. She soon began to forget about proving her emotions to him, and dropped her head back to normal.

They'd made a half circle around the grounds when Gaara announced, "It's getting late, Soru. You'll be needing to go back home soon. We will continue another time."

Soru pouted, but complied, knowing that arguing with him would be pointless; he'd win either way, whether she was the one right or not. '_Stubborn party pooper'_, she thought.

As they waited for Naruto, Temari, and Kankuro to arrive, Soru sat on a stool beside a tent, taking in her surroundings. They were on the path that led straight down the middle of the carnival grounds. Stay on it, and you'd eventually end up at the House of Spook.

Soru sighed, now officially bored, and swung her legs back and forth on the stool while Gaara stood, arms crossed, a ways away from her. '_This is not how normal friends_ _act_,' she thought sullenly with a pang of loneliness, narrowing her eyes at the vampire. Tilting her head back until it made contact with the tent material behind her, she looked at the stars, and was struck by a sudden idea.

"Hey, Gaara, look at the stars!" she called, pointing straight up into the endless sky. The red head glanced at her, turned his eyes upward for a moment, then brought his head back down.

"Yes, stars." He said in monotone, seemingly uninterested by the tiny lights. Soru felt as if an invisible hammer was pounded down onto her head in her defeat. Bowing it like earlier when she'd embarrassed herself, feeling utterly at a loss, it was then that she noticed a sparkle come from a spot on the ground four or so feet from her. Climbing off the tall stool, she walked over to the shining object, and dusted it off. It was a circle. A shiny circle.

A shiny circle? That didn't seem right. Reaching out, Soru grabbed at it, and was able to grasp the thing. Holding it up, she saw that it was a charm bracelet. It consisted of many simple silver beads, a charm interrupting every fifth one. The charms were in the shapes of, ironically, stars and crescent moons.

"What have you found now?" came a familiar voice to her left, and Soru whipped around to face Gaara, who was staring at the jewelry she held in her hand.

"A bracelet!" she told him, sounding almost as proud as if she'd found a lost dog she'd been searching for.

She saw him reach for it, and Gaara was, like before with the rings, trying to pry it from her fingers. She let him have it, and he observed it in the palm of his hand.

After a few seconds, he took it on his fingertips, and gently took Soru's hand. As gently as he held her hand, he slipped the bracelet over it, and she was satisfied to find that it fit perfectly.

"The girl who dropped it has no interest in it. Keep it," Gaara commanded her, and she marveled at him.

"How'd you know that?" she asked, and he said, "I watch."

Soru rolled her eyes at how short the answer was, but thanked him nonetheless, the whole time thinking, '_Now this is more like it!_' She was disappointed when he turned away from her and took a few steps out into the open, but covered it up, trying not to think about it. He had just given her a gift, sort of, and she should be thankful that he did that. But she could hope for maybe a little more, right?

Hearing a loud laugh, Soru listened for the voice that followed it. From around another tent corner on the opposite side of where she and Gaara had come from, came Naruto, Kankuro, and Temari, the two boys sharing a laugh while Temari looked exasperated.

Walking past Soru, the brunette heard the blonde mutter something along the lines of, "Idiots," and sat down on the stool that Soru had recently vacated. The boys joined together in a group to talk about something, and the girls did the same.

"Er, what happened?" Soru asked slowly. Temari sighed and rolled her eyes.

"They're just being men!" she snarled, obviously annoyed by something they'd done, which she explained a few seconds later, "We found a Test-Your-Strength stand, and they wanted to try it out. They did, then made me do it. They were stronger than me, and they won't let it go. I don't give a damn who's stronger, but it seriously ticks me off when they just _keep_ talking about it."

Soru could tell that Temari meant it when she said that she didn't care about being stronger. It was apparent that the older girl had no interest a beating Naruto or Kankuro at the stand, but was peeved at how they carried on about it. And by the sound of it, they were bragging pretty big-headedly. She decided to eavesdrop on their conversation.

"-she pounded that thing, and you could see that she was giving it her all, but she just couldn't get it up to our measures! Ha, you shoulda seen her face!" That was Naruto to Gaara. Soru scoffed quietly enough for the boys not to hear, but Temari could, and the blonde girl looked curiously up at the younger.

"Pretty full of themselves, hunh?"

Temari nodded, "Yeah, the jerks."

She watched as Soru grinned, looking as if a plan was hatching in her head. And one certainly was. Temari wondered if this was a good thing or bad. Probably in between. Soru just seemed like that sort of person.

She grabbed at Temari's sleeve and tugged, still grinning deviously at Naruto and Kankuro. Temari got the idea, and silently and swiftly got up from the stool, letting Soru lead her back on the path to the House of Spook.

They dodged throughout the tents and stands so that they wouldn't be seen by the others, but there was no need. Kankuro and Naruto were too caught up in telling Gaara about the event, and Gaara seemed intent on…well, not being bored, because it was about the fifteenth time the doofuses were talking about it.

Creeping back to the mansion, Temari asked, "So what're we doing?"

"Getting them back!"

"How?" Now Temari was grinning as well, anxious to get the boys back.

"…"

"…"

"…"

"Well?"

"I'm….not actually…suuuuure yet…." Was Soru's hesitant answer, and the smug grin slipped off her face. Temari stared wide eyed at the confusing girl. Was this who Gaara had befriended? Some odd little ditz?

"But I'll think of something. I just knew that I wanted to get them back, and that made me feel mischievous," Soru giggled, "I decided that we'd have to get away from their attention as soon as possible if we were going to pull this off. We now have time to think."

Temari paused, then nodded, seeing the small bit of logic in this. Maybe Soru wasn't such a ditz after all. Gaara had never had friends before, but Temari could tell that if he thought that this Soru girl was an idiot, he would've denied her his friendship. There was something in her mind that kept him from pushing her away. Something different...

"I've got it!" Soru's voice stopped Temari's train of thought.

"Here's what we do!" and as the girls made their way to the mansion, Soru filled Temari in on the plan.

Xxxxx

Eventually, Gaara noticed that the two girls had slipped off somewhere, and alerted Kankuro and Naruto. They grinned at each other, both thinking that Temari had been too humiliated to show her face anymore, and Soru had gone with her as to not be left alone with three teenage males, and they laughed about it as they walked to the House of Spook.

This idea didn't fit in well with Gaara, though. He knew his sister, and it was not like her at all to run from a situation like this. More like she'd get out a spiked maul like the ones modeled in the ring toss and hurl it at the one whom had caused her embarrassment. Soru though…Soru would probably kick them between the legs, then make a run for it, all the while screaming that they were raping and assaulting her. _That_ was what they'd do.

The group of three ambled through the window in the front of the House of Spook, looking for Soru and Temari as they went. Now that the humor was worn out, Naruto and Kankuro began to grow more worried for them, but Gaara was unconcerned. If the girls were both missing, then they were most likely together. And if they were together, Soru's safety was assured, she being the only one needing to be worried about. Temari would definitely jump the first person to mess with her and Soru.

They ventured through the mansion, going into the dining room, the kitchen, then down the hallway to the library. Right as Gaara was about to walk through the doorway out of the kitchen, when something grabbed his wrist from behind him. He spun around to see Soru smiling up at him from the cabinet that was located right beside the door, and she mouthed, 'Wait'. Which he did.

Peeking around the doorway, she quickly scrambled out of the cabinet, and closed the door to the hallway. Gaara raised an eyebrow at her, and she put a finger to her lips, then cupped a hand around her ear, signaling for him to listen.

Xxxxx

Temari waited in the library with a smile etched onto her face. For such a weird girl, Soru was certainly crafty. With admiration, the blonde's eyes scanned the simple set up that Soru had created. A string tied from the balcony above the doorway held up a carefully measured stick on which a particularly pointed boot rested on the other end of. There was a pole holding up the boot from the floor, and a string tied to that pole, the end of that string held tightly in Temari's right hand.

She then looked at the second part of the mediocre, yet brilliant contraption, which was across from the first one, at the bookcases. A table had been moved from the middle of the library to the end of the bookcase, a boot placed on its side on the surface, the pointed toe facing the door. Another taught string was tied to the boot, and this one was held in Temari's left hand. And there stood Temari out to the side of the doorway. This part of the plan was her idea.

She heard voices, two loud ones to be exact coming from the hallway just outside the door of the library, calling hers and Soru's names. Smirking, she bit down a laugh, and waited. '_Wait for it, wait for it…_'

She held her breath as the door opened slowly. '_Wait for it, wait for it…_'

It opened just a little bit more. '_Wait for it…_'

A bit more. '_…_'

It creaked. '_NOW!_'

She pulled the string in her right hand as hard as possible, and right as the door opened, the stick was yanked out from under the boot, and it came swinging down…right between poor Kankuro's legs.

Letting out a grunt, his hands flew to his pants, and he dropped to the carpeted floor.

"Kankuro, you okay, man?!" came Naruto's concerned voice. Temari smirked even more. '_NOW!_' She gripped the string in her left hand, and whirled around, slinging the boot off the table and into the doorway, whizzing right over Kankuro's tense body, and into the front of Naruto's pants.

The blonde boy yelped and did the same as Kankuro, but fell backwards instead of forwards like the vampire boy. Now Temari let out the laughter she'd been holding in.

Xxxxxx

_Rewind to when Soru held Gaara back…_

The anticipation made Soru bounce up and down on the balls of her toes as she waited, grinning from ear to ear. Gaara eyed her, wondering what this was all about. He figured it out a moment too soon, and his thoughts were confirmed by the sudden cry that came from Naruto down the hallway, then his sister's barks of laughter.

He knew it. They'd gotten Kankuro and Naruto back. The two walked to the library, and spotted the forms lying on the ground, blocking their way to the book filled room. Soru left Gaara's side and stepped around Naruto, then Kankuro and joined Temari in the library, where the two laughed uproariously.

Gaara followed her slowly, looking at Naruto and Kankuro as he passed them. Both had their eyes closed in pain, hands making a protective covering over a certain area. He stepped through the door to see Temari and Soru red-faced and snorting as they tried to cover up their laughter.

"And that's the best way to damage a guy's pride! How's that for embarrassment?!" Soru howled in between laughing.

Now that they started to get over the amusement, they realized that they were now probably in trouble. Or at least Soru did. Temari was still having a blast, even though she'd stopped laughing, as she taunted the two writhing boys.

"Jerks, that'll show you to make fun of me!! How does that feel?! Good, hunh!? And we'll do it again if we need to, right, Soru?!" she turned to the brunette, who was now a bit scared of what Kankuro would do to her. Naruto she wasn't worried about, but she didn't know Kankuro that well, and she was now asking herself if she should run.

"Uh, yeah! We'll do it again…" her voice trailed off as she caught the look on Kankuro's face, ticked off and pained. Oh yeah, she'd done it now. Even if Temari went along with it, it was her idea. Thank God they didn't know that.

"It was Soru's idea, too! Smart, isn't she?"

'_Dammit, I'm dead, thanks Temari_,' thought Soru, and she gulped. Uh oh. She looked at Gaara for support, but he just stared back emotionlessly. She turned back to Kankuro, who was getting to his feet, glaring at her the whole time he was doing so.

Her face gained the redness it had lost as she thought of ways to escape, but she knew it was futile. Even if he wasn't vampire, he was older, and a boy. He was, of course, faster than her. Retreat was not an option.

Now that Kankuro had recovered, he had his arms crossed over his chest, and on his face was the most peculiar expression. He had one eyebrow raised, the corners of his mouth turned up in a sly smile. That scared her most of all.

He started to advance toward her, and she let go of all common sense.

"It was your fault!" she squealed, throwing herself behind Gaara in an attempt to shield herself. "Gaara, hide me!" she squeaked from behind him. He only shook his head, saying, "No, you got yourself into this. Face the concequences." And Soru could hear the slight amount of amusement that laced his words.

"Concequences?! What concequences?! We're even now!" she shrieked, again turning her attention to Kankuro, who was still walking to her.

"Correction," said Kankuro, "Temari and I are even now. You and I, though, well, that's a different story. It's my turn to embarrass you."

Soru almost felt her face go pale, and she spun on her heel to run behind a bookcase, but was suddenly grabbed around the waist from behind. She looked over her shoulder to see a grinning Kankuro. Alarm raced through her mind, and she struggled to get away as she wondered what Naruto, Temari, and Gaara were doing.

Kankuro only pulled her closer to his chest, finally squishing her to him, and turning to the others, who watched with interest. "Now, now, calm down…" Kankuro whispered into her ear.

He then sealed his fate by placing his lips on her earlobe, and two individuals became quite peeved, while the other two decided casually that it was now time to intervene.

Kankuro was not prepared to have Soru turn in his arms so that she faced him. Thinking she wanted a full-blown kiss, Kankuro smirked at her, but realized a moment too late that she wanted nothing of him. The back of her hand hit his cheek with a loud smack, and he was pulled away from her by two stronger hands. He looked back behind him to see a furious Gaara, and he finally saw that he'd gone too far.

Twitching, Soru, along with Temari and Naruto, watched as Gaara punished his poor brother with his fists. Kankuro might have been bigger, but Gaara was still stronger.

Xxxxx

"I like them, especially Soru. She's the little sis I never had," said Temari as the three vampires watched Naruto and Soru leave to go back home. The blonde girl turned to one of her younger brothers and said, "Got you back didn't she? She's so clever, just like me!"

"Shut it, Temari," grumbled a shamed Kankuro, who nursed his bruised ribs and face. Temari grinned even more at the youngest of the group, and said, "Her bodyguard didn't seem too happy either, did ya Gaara?"

The red head glanced at his sister, then looked back at the retreating figures at the edge of the forest. He said nothing. Temari and Kankuro stared at him, both in amazement. Normally, he would've narrowed his eyes at her, or given her a sign of annoyance, but not this time. He was watching Soru and Naruto as they went, almost concernedly.

Temari looked at Soru, and then at Gaara, then back at Soru again, then back at Gaara again. "You like her, don't you?" she asked.

Gaara frowned, taking his eyes off the point where Soru and her companion had disappeared. "Of course I like her. I like Naruto as well. We are…friends." He told her.

"You know what I mean, Gaara." Temari accused, trying to stare Gaara down, but only resulting in looking silly. That was something only he could pull off in the small family. He sighed, and walked away from the window, leaving his dumbfounded siblings to ponder at his unusual behavior. Then they smiled at each other. Their little bro was growing up!

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**Me: There it is, a long chapter to make up for the wait! Sorry, peeps, you know what it is. School. Oy. And no, this isn't a Kankuro romance, and no, this isn't a filler chapter, okay? Just a "get to a certain point" chapter. Hope you liked it! Temari?**

**Temari: Review peeps!**

**Kankuro: Please!**

**Gaara:-nods-**


	7. CHRISTMAS SPECIAL!

**Me: Hey yall, just thought up an idea and decided to type it up! This is related to the story, The Terrifying Job, but it doesn't go along with the storyline. Just a little something extra for the holidays. Enjoy!**

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"_Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse,"_

It was true. The house was dark and quiet on Christmas Eve, not even the family cat, Nezumi, moved a muscle as she lay on the living room sofa. What was it that made the night so still, yet so…magical?

"_The stockings were hung by the chimney with care, In hopes that St. Nicholas would soon be there,"_

This was also true, but alas, there was no chimney in the house to hang the stockings from, yet the family owning them had improvised, putting up hangers with adhesive backs on the wall, and had hung the bright red decorations there. _  
_

"_The children were nestled all snug in their beds, while visions of sugar plums danced in their heads,"_

And yet…not true. There was only one "child" in the house, and she was far from asleep. She had taken to lying wistfully on the couch along with her dear pet cat, and what she dreamt about was certainly not sugar plums (she definitely didn't know what they were!). Instead, her thoughts were based around that fluffy, eight inches of snow outside on the ground, just waiting to be rolled up and thrown at others, or stacked and made into comical images of people.

**Soru's POV**

"_And mamma in her 'kerchief, and I in my cap, had just settled down for a long winter's nap,"_

I knew that my parents were all nice and cozy, safely asleep in their bed, and here I was in my pajamas and bath robe, waiting for the one I was told to expect. I smiled at the thought of him and his companions. Best friends we were, in fact. I was so anxious to see them again, especially him. I wiggled my toes in anticipation. Not long now. I hoped they would come soon, it had been a task to sneak out of my room and down here unnoticed.

"_When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter, I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter,"_

"OUCH!!! Dangit, what is this?! Some sort of trickery?! I detest it, stupid unknown object! Temari, Gaara, help me get it off!"

"You're the idiot who got stuck in it, you get it off yourself!"

With a grin, I leapt up from the couch.

_  
"Away to the window I flew like a flash, tore open the shutters and threw up the sash,"_

I swished the curtains away from the glass and scanned the outside landscape.  
_  
"The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below,"_

The moonlight gleamed against the pure white snow in an almost blinding fashion. It was quite distracting and…well, pretty!

"_When, what to my wondering eyes should appear, ut a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer,"_

Three figures stood out on the lawn, snow rising a little past their ankles, making headway to their knees. They wore only black, two wearing black suits, and the one difference in the outfit of the other one was that she was wearing a skirt, not pants._  
_  
"_With a little old driver, so lively and quick, I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick."_

It was apparent that the shortest one with blazing red hair was in charge. My dearest Gaara. He stood with erect posture and arms crossed in a commanding manner. I giggled as I gazed at him. He was adorable in a…serious, army-commando way. _  
_

"_More rapid than eagles his coursers they came, And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name, "Now, DASHER! now, DANCER! now, PRANCER and VIXEN! On, COMET! on CUPID! on, DONDER and BLITZEN! To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall! Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!""_

Gaara snapped his fingers at his bickering siblings and said, "Kankuro, Temari, stop. We are here to visit, not wake up a whole neighborhood. Now, Kankuro, get yourself untangled and make yourself presentable, then come with me to the door."

"_As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly, When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky, So up to the house-top the coursers they flew, With the sleigh full of toys, and St. Nicholas too."_

Kankuro immediately plopped down in the snow and worked on escaping the cords of the Christmas decorations my parents had put on the lawn. Finally, with the help of Temari, he managed it.

"_And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof, The prancing and pawing of each little hoof. As I drew in my hand, and was turning around, Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound."_

I ran to the door and swung it open to see my three vampire friends staring me down with happy expressions. At least two of them were, I really couldn't tell with Gaara…

"_He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot, And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot, A bundle of toys he had flung on his back, And he looked like a peddler just opening his pack."_

The red head stood there with a small package in his hands, enveloped with black wrapping paper with the word 'Noel' scattered around it in white, and a silver bow adorning the top._  
_  
"_His eyes -- how they twinkled! his dimples how merry! His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry! His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow, And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow"_

I couldn't help but admire his beautiful black-rimmed eyes, his smooth, pale face, the gentle downward curve of his mouth.

"_The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth, And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath, He had a broad face and a little round belly, That shook, when he laughed like a bowlful of jelly. He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf, And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself, A wink of his eye and a twist of his head, Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread."_

I couldn't help myself and laughed at him and his siblings, standing there calmly, but I knew that they felt a bit unsettled here in the plain suburb. I invited them in, letting them get away from the biting chill of the snow, and the present in Gaara's hands told me that they had come here for a pleasant reason. Nothing to fear.__

"He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work, And filled all the stockings; then turned with a jerk, And laying his finger aside of his nose, And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose."

We four had an excellent time together that Christmas Eve night, enjoying holiday-related jokes and tales with each other.

After opening my gift from them, a shiny star necklace, I explained a little of the regular stories from my world, telling of Santa Clause, and even of the reason for the season, none other than the newborn Child Himself, Jesus. They told me of vampire Christmas myths and legends, and I hadn't even noticed that several hours passed by until Gaara mentioned that it was time for them to leave. I was saddened, but knew I'd see them later on.

"_He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle, And away they all flew like the down of a thistle, but I heard him exclaim ere he drove out of sight, "HAPPY CHRISTMAS TO ALL, AND TO ALL A GOOD-NIGHT!""_

The three left quietly to return to their home in the woods, and I swore, and they retreated, that I heard a soft whisper come from a certain red-heads mouth, "Merry Christmas, Soru."

I smiled, and whispered back, "Merry Christmas to you, too."

And they were gone.

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**Me: This was just an innocent story meant for entertainment. Yes it had references to religion, I know. I know that some of you might not believe what I do, but like I typed, this was only for entertainment, and extra chapter for my story. Thanks for reading, please review and tell me how it was!**_****_


	8. Troubles In the Day and Night

**Me: OMG!!! A hamster! LOOK AT THE FLUFFY!!!!!!!! It has taken my BRAAIIIIINNN!!!! Lol, just kiddin'!**

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"_You know what I mean, Gaara." Temari accused, trying to stare Gaara down, but only resulting in looking silly. That was something only he could pull off in the small family. He sighed, and walked away from the window, leaving his dumbfounded siblings to ponder at his unusual behavior. Then they smiled at each other. Their little bro was growing up!_

**Day Seven-Monday**

**Soru's POV**

"Soru…"

I heard it! The voice of my beloved, reaching to me from the shadows, and I strained to hear it once more.

"Soru."

There it is again! Perhaps if I open my eyes, I will see him! Wait a minute, why are my eyes closed?

"Soru!"

Why so urgent? I'm here, quit calling for me, Gaara.

"Soru! Get out of bed or you'll be late for school!!!"

Hunh? School? If school is starting, then why am I here with Gaara? Hold on a second….that wasn't Gaara's voice….

Slowly, I opened my eyes like I had planned to before, but was greeted with a sight I was not prepared for. In fact, I wasn't sure if I had any eyesight at all. The world around me was a dark blue screen, surrounding every inch of my vision. It was as if I had closed my eyes and someone was shining a blue-colored-lighted flashlight in my face.

"Soru, I told you to get UP!!!"

"Hunh?" came my articulate answer, "Mom?"

"It's time to get up and get ready for school, so chop-chop!" was her response, then I heard her footsteps retreat from my room. Jeesh, she could've at least turned the darned light on for me. Coming to my senses, I realized that the blue haze in front of my face was the blanket on my bed, and in my sleep, I had unintentionally wrapped myself up in it like a burrito.

I struggled in my fuzzy cocoon, trying desperately to find the way out, sympathizing for those poor butterflies as I went. Squirming this way and that, I figured that rolling over might free me from the soft prison, but found that this was a bad idea, as a second later, the bed disappeared from underneath me and I fell off the edge and onto the floor, thanking the Lord that it was carpeted. After some more trials and hardships, (translation: kicking and jumping around on the ground) I saw a small hole of light come through the blanket, and thrust my arm through it, finally succeeding in escaping.

Tossing the coverlet back onto the bed, I shakily stood up while almost falling over again on doing so. Once my center of balance was in check, I stretched, then trudged wearily out of my room, down the hallway, stomped down the stairs, and into the kitchen where I found a granola bar in the cupboard. '_Not much_,' I thought dissatisfiedly, '_But it'll have to work for now_.'

Munching on the granola bar, I dutifully climbed back up the stairs to my room again, and finished the small breakfast while searching for an outfit. I slipped on a purple shirt with elbow-length sleeves, and some plain, faded jeans. Right when I was about to leave the room again, I spotted a sparkle on my bedside table out the corner of my eye. Now that I was more awake, I was becoming increasingly in tune with the world, and recognized the sparkly bracelet that Gaara had given me last night.

Gasping, I snatched up the accessory and fixed it onto my wrist where it gleamed in the lamplight happily. Grinning wildly to myself, I skipped out of my room and into the bathroom to tidy up my appearance. In other words, scrape the hairbrush through my hair a few times, then run a toothpaste-smothered toothbrush over my teeth. Once that was all done, I deemed myself worthy of being seen by my peers, and ran down to the living room where my shoes waited for me.

Now I was ready! I returned to the kitchen to find my mom there, having a breakfast of granola like I had. But I was still hungry and even had the time, so I went over to the fridge, opened up the freezer, and grabbed a waffle box out of the frozen cavern. Getting two chocolate chip waffles out of the bag, I plopped them into the toaster and pulled down the trigger, waiting for them to become edible.

When boredom struck me as I waited, I gazed at the metal wires in the toaster, watching them turn a nice, fiery orange-red as they heated up.

"Soru, honey," said my mom, and I turned my attention to her.

"Si, madre? (Yes, mother?)"

"Why have you been staying so late at that House of Spook job you have every night?"

I could almost hear the sickening squelch my stomach might have made as it tightened a little in my alarm, and it only got worse when she continued, "I called your boss on the phone, and she said that she never had a clue that you or Naruto were staying so late. Please tell me why." Her face was a mask of suspicion, and I immediately realized what she thought Naruto and I were doing together alone in a quiet, dark, empty place. Hey, ya go through puberty, your mind just knows when people are suggesting things like this.

"Nothing wrong or against the rules!!!!" I almost shrieked, waving my hands rapidly in front of me, "I swear, we are _not_ doing anything wrong!!!" I searched my brain for a logical answer, and finally came up with what I thought was a decent excuse.

"We've just been exploring the grounds," I tried to explain nonchalantly, "I know we've been staying really late, and that the carnival isn't that huge, but still. We explored the mansion, and the stalls and whatnot, and it's been really fun and stuff so we lose track of time sometimes. Plus we're figuring out how to win at the rigged game stalls."

I hoped that my face wasn't turning too red in my desperation for her to believe me. Her face seemed to have lost the suspicion it once held, but still looked as if she wasn't too ready to let it go yet.

"Alright, but remember, I'll be asking questions if something is out of place, okay?" she had dropped the scary voice, too, and I was relieved. That was almost too easy. But don't look a gift horse in the mouth, you could say.

"I'm heading out now. Don't be late for school, sweetie." She instructed, and we hugged, said our goodbyes, and she left.

I allowed myself to breathe again, putting a hand over my heart. That was way too close for comfort. She wouldn't have believed me if I said I was visiting someone in the mansion, and that would've definitely raised even more suspicions. I thought about how she had suspected that Naruto and I were….I let out a small squeal and shook my head violently. _That was sick!_ Good job, mom, good flippin' job! You've put nasty images in my head! Being a visual person, I normally thought about how something looked when someone described something to me or told me something, and now was no different. But if I took out Naruto and inserted Gaara….a giggle rose up in the back of my throat, and I snorted. '_Bad Soru!_'

Then the toaster popped and made me jump a mile high in the air. Holding a hand over my poor thirty-miles-a-second-beating heart, I took my waffles out and waited for the bus to come around as I ate them.

Soon after I finished the last waffle, it pulled up. I dashed to the entryway, grabbed my backpack, and ran out to the bus, clumsily boarding the yellow vehicle. Again, just like a few days ago, Tayuya and Deidara were the only ones on it, both pretty much at the back again to my relief, and I sat at the front……….again.

On the way to school, I took out my ipod again and listened to the Harry Potter theme song. It had no lyrics, but I tried my best to sing it in my head. It went a little something like this:

_Do do, do do do, do do, do, do do do do, do do,_

_Do do, do do, do do do, dooo doooooo, do do, do do do do, do do, do do,_

_Na na, na na, na naaaaa naa na na, na na na, na naaaaaaa!_

And on it went. It was actually quite amusing, trying to match the voice in my head with the rising and decreasing, then rising again tempo. The bus picked up its passengers, and I gave Sasuke the evilest glare I could manage when he got on, but he ignored me.

When we got to the school, I was one of the first to bolt off the bus and find the person I wanted to talk to. It was a dire emergency. I found him where he could always be found at this time, at his locker, "customizing" it, as he told me. I snuck up behind him and scanned the inside of it to find that it looked no different than the first day I'd seen it. The walls of it were completely covered by pictures of him, his friends, and anything else he cared about. In fact, there were several layers of photos on each side, since even though he wanted to put new ones up, he refused to take the old ones down. I even spied the little picture of ramen in the corner and smiled.

One of my favorites was on the right wall, of him and me pushing up the ends of our noses to imitate pigs, my right arm around his shoulders, his left around mine. That was around Halloween of last year, and we both had costumes on. I was dressed up as a cat, and he was a goblin. Or at least what he thought looked like a goblin if that's what you wanted to call it. The pieces of paper folded into points and taped to his ears were actually quite helpful, though.

Back to the present, I stood to his right, and tapped him on his left shoulder. He turned his head to see who was trying to get his attention, and looked very confused when he saw no one there.

"Hearing things, Naruto?" I whispered, and he whipped around to face me.

"Soru! That was you!" he accused, narrowing his eyes playfully at me.

"Really? I didn't know that!" I gasped, just managing to keep a straight face. He stuck his tongue out at me, and I did the same. Returning to maturity a few seconds later, I remembered what I'd wanted to say to him.

"Naruto! My mom asked me this morning why I was staying so late at the House of Spook! She actually called Ms. Mitarashi and asked _her_ about it! Did you know about this?!"

He became panicked, and freaked out, shouting, "WHAT!? Are you in trouble?! Agh, that's not good!"

I shook my head quickly and told him, "No! I told her that you and I were exploring around the carnival. She bought it, thank goodness!

He relaxed and sighed, dragging his arm across his forehead in a mock act of drama. "Phew! That's good. So she doesn't know about Gaara?" I shook my head again, and he grinned. Just then, the bell rang. I walked over to my own locker to get my books and go to my first class, saying 'see ya later' to Naruto, ready for another boring day of learning.

Xxx

It was at the end of lunch when I had my next confrontation with Sasuke. I was sitting at the end of the table, with Tenten to my left, who was chatting with Shikamaru about a difficult algebra problem, and Hinata directly in front of me, quietly eating her food and tentatively listening to Kiba, who was to her right, as he told her about the sporting event he'd gone to during the weekend. I had finished my lunch and was drawing a picture of Gaara in one of my many notebooks I always carried around. It wasn't perfect, but you could tell it was him if you'd seen him before.

All of a sudden, I saw a hand creep up beside me in my peripheral vision, reaching for my peanut butter cookie. I quickly snatched up my plastic spork, and did my best to plunge it into the intruding appendage. A gasp-grunt greeted this action, and the hand withdrew to my satisfaction. Smiling innocently, I twisted around to face the perpetrator, and was mildly surprised to see none other than Duck-Butt-Head himself.

As he glared at me, I glanced at the cookie on my tray, then returned his glare and said, "Mine."

His look of disbelief was priceless, and he growled out, "I come to question you about that nice little drawing of yours," I glance at the notebook, open to the world, and slam it closed, "and you're worried about that _cookie_?"

I just shrugged and told him matter-of-factly, "My cookie. Mine." Then with another glare, I added, "_My_ drawing, too. Leave it alone."

He smirked at me, and I of course noted how un-sexy it was compared to Gaara's. "Quite a pathetic drawing. You know what makes it so?" I narrowed my eyes at him and waited for his answer, which I knew I wouldn't like, "Its model."

Pretending to be horridly offended, I made a show of shoving my notebook into my backpack, then standing and grabbing my tray. I held the spork in my right hand and stabbed the Uchiha as many times as I could with it as I passed him on my way to the trashcan. Sure it didn't do much damage, but it definitely made me feel better.

Proud of himself to have angered me, he went on his way to sit with his own group of "friends". I looked over my shoulder at his retreating figure and glared, hoping to make him melt. No success, though, I would have to get Gaara to give me lessons. I then focused on his "friends".

A group of four people. Let's see, what were their names? I knew Tayuya's, of course, she was always picking on Shikamaru. Hmm, that fat one that always bullied Choji? Ah, yes, Jirobo. The one with the, erm, extra arms who had fun making fun of Neji? Oh yeah, Kidomaru! And the two headed one who could pass as a girl any day who loved to pick fights with Kiba? Sakon, and his other head, Ukon, whom he called his elder brother. They called themselves the Sound Gang because of their hometown, Otogakure. And Sasuke had crossed over to their side not long ago.

Urgh, I hated them all. I banged my tray sloppily against the edge of the trashcan to rid it of clinging bits of bread and plastic mustard packets, and then put it on the counter to be picked up by a cafeteria lady. Stalking back to my locker to put up what I didn't need, and get what I did need, I imagined all the while what it would look like if Gaara and his siblings decided to have some fun terrorizing the group. They thought they were so big and tough. Ha, Sound Gang, meet my vampires.

Xxx

There he was once more, walking towards me with a graceful, purposeful gait, magnificent to the highest extent. I could've swooned, fainted and fallen to the ground, but I thankfully didn't…..though it was expected…

The next thing I knew, my vampire, my angel of darkness, was right there before me, my hands cupped in his snow cold ones, and I was staring into his eyes as he was mine. There was no smirk on his face this time, only a gentle, warm smile that lit up my insides and melted not only my heart, but my lungs, liver, esophagus, stomach, and whatever organ that I forgot, away. It was breath-taking, that smile of his. Though I couldn't really decide which I liked better, the smile or the smirk. The smirk ignited several sparks inside of me and made my heart leap in nervous excitement. The smile warmed it with a slow, steady flame that just made the rest of the world fade away.

He leaned in, his crimson red hair centimeters, no, millimeters from my forehead and closing the gap. The black rings around his eyes were alluring, looping a rope around my gaze and bringing it to his so that I couldn't look away. So close…our faces were so close…

And then a cold, spine-chilling-freezing-shattering voice that didn't belong to him slithered out from his lips, reminding me of a snake.

"And what, may I ask, are you doing, Miss Soru?"

Slowly, I awoke from my beautiful, Gaara-contaminated dream for the second time that day, this time by a more unpleasant being. I raised my head from the desk, sneakily wiping an arm across my mouth to rid it of any drool that might have come out in my slumber. I looked at the one whom had woken me up, and found myself staring into the pits of hell itself. Mr. Orochimaru stared back, a cold, suspicious smile on his face. Smile or no smile, I wasn't fooled. In fact, I was downright terrified, ready to make a dash for the door in case he planned to set his hell-snakes on me.

"What was the question?" I asked after thinking for a second or so, and I heard some sniggering around the classroom as he sneered at me.

"I asked what you were doing, Miss Soru." He repeated, and I nodded, pretending to recall hearing that. "I was…not doing my work." I answered lamely. He nodded this time, keeping up that creepy smile of his, and then said, "Yes, that is only half correct. What _exactly_ you _were doing_ was what I asked of you. You didn't seem to be _doing_ much."

"Well, I think I was, uh, sleeping, Mr. Orochimaru." I told him weakly. Nodding some more, he walked to his desk at the back of the room. The whole class watched, tension in the air, as he got out a pink piece of paper and a pencil, and I inwardly groaned. Great, I had detention. Absolutely flippin' super! Some students whispered in hushed voices, probably about me. I had never (amazingly) gotten a detention in all my school years and now here I was. Oh, this was not going to go over well with my mom.

Now Mr. Orochimaru was finished writing, and was stalking back over to my desk. He handed me the paper, and said, "Well, you'll have even more time to think in detention after school, now wont you?" He gave me that sickly-sweet smile, and returned to giving his lecture, all the while keeping his eyes on me, probably trying to find me asleep again. I couldn't focus on his speech, though, as I thought about how much trouble I'd be in. How mad would my mother be? What would she do? I prayed that she wouldn't take away my carnival-exploring privileges. That late night exploration was what caused me to fall asleep anyway. I cursed my luck, and gave up on paying attention to Mr. Orochimaru as I thought of excuses as to why I fell asleep.

Xxx

I couldn't tell which I was more of that afternoon: angry, or frightened. School ended at 3:30, and here I was until 4:30, being stared down by the very man who had put me here himself. I was reading, already having finished my homework, and was determined not to look at my supervisor. Well, I wasn't actually reading, but more or less making an effort to distract myself from the way Mr. Orochimaru stared. It was a stare he always used on those occasions when there was only one kid in detention. A stare that was probably for his entertainment, to scare poor students out of their wits while they were in there.

Turning the page every once in a while to make it look like I was really taking in the words on the pages, I was actually stewing in anger. Or maybe not, I was a bit too creeped out to be mad. In fact, I felt frozen, as if any movement would cause him to attack me….which I didn't doubt he would do. I wished I could've called my parents beforehand to warn them why I wasn't going to be home at the usual time. Knowing mom, she would go into a state of panic, calling every person in the phone book as she asked of my whereabouts. Thankfully, I had gotten the chance to ask Naruto to tell them where I was when we passed in the halls. He was very understanding of the situation, having gotten detentions since middle school, even congratulating me for my first one. He was more than happy to inform my parents of my delay, and I hoped he would get there before mom tore the whole town apart searching for me.

"Well, Miss Soru, I'd say that time is up. Lucky you." Said Mr. Orochimaru, and I jumped at the sudden creepy noise.

I crammed the book into my backpack, and leapt up from the desk, making a beeline for the door. All the while I was aware of him watching me exit, those yellow eyes never leaving my figure.

Xxx

It was even more terrifying to look up at my house before I entered it, wondering what horrors waited for me inside of it. Inhaling deeply, I shuffled my feet up to the front door and knocked. It was locked, but I was too scared that there might be a trap set up on the doorknob. It opened, and there was my mom, glaring at me as if I'd blown up the school.

"Get your butt inside, young lady." She commanded, and I didn't need to be told a second time. I scurried into the house where the lecture awaited.

Xxx

'_Okay, that wasn't as bad as I thought it would be…_' I thought glumly as I strolled through the woods to my workplace. I was grounded, but not from anything work related. I was grounded from videogames, though it wasn't too bad. Videogames were my main entertainment on weekend afternoons when I wasn't visiting Naruto, and I could go a few weekends without them, but I didn't tell my parents that.

As I walked, I had a feeling that they suspected that my late night carnival outings were the culprit of my mid-school nap, but they didn't bring it up. I couldn't tell anyone just how relieved I was that I was still allowed to stay late at the carnival. I don't know what I would do if I were to be banned from that.

Now that my mind had some free time, I wondered what zany adventures awaited me and my friends tonight. A little more touring? Perhaps a night of scary stories? No, that seemed too little-kid-ish. I supposed that we would have to go along with the flow and just see what happened.

I entered the grounds of the ever creepy-yet-awesome Halloween carnival, and took in a deep breath, smelling the familiar scent of popcorn. It didn't matter what type of carnival you went to, popcorn always found you. It always knew where you were. It just stared at you, waiting for you to eat it. It would chant at you as you looked at it. It would say, "Eat me…eat meeee…..eat me……come on, get a life and eat me!"

I giggle-snorted at the random popcorn thoughts that came to mind, and when I saw Naruto tossing around a tennis ball with Sasuke, I giggled some more.

I walked towards Naruto, an idea in my mind, (some of you, dear readers, might be thinking, '_Oh boy, not another one…_') but instantly got a better one, and redirected myself to Sasuke. I approached him, and he turned his head to me.

"Evil popcorn army."

Sasuke gave me a look. One that suggested ultimate confusion and weirded-out-ness. "Do what?" he said.

"Evil popcorn army! A posse of little fluffy pieces of corn to dominate our enemies!" I yelled, laughing maniacally to add a bit of humor to the whole thing.

Sasuke's expression still wasn't any less clueless as before, and it just made my day as the tennis ball came into contact with his head. Ha, owned!!!!

He picked it up from the ground and was about to chunk it back at the hysterically laughing Naruto, but stopped as the doors to the House of Spook flew open. Ms. Mitarashi stood there in the doorway, making her usual getting down to business face, which always somehow managed to put us in our places. She fiercely glared at us three and barked, "What are you idiots doing?! Don't you see how low the sun is?! People are going to be arriving soon, quit lollygagging around!!! Sometimes I wonder how you kids get by in life!"

I really wasn't surprised or upset by her irrational tantrum; it was just how she was. Ms. Mitarashi is as Ms. Mitarashi does. No other explanation for it.

"Bitch on her period?" muttered the already ticked off Sasuke under his breath. I scoffed and retorted, "Sounds like_ you_ are, Mr. Emotional." I hop-skipped away from him before he could hurt me.

Bounding into the House of Spook after Naruto, I was ready for another night of screams and vampires.

Xxx

I ushered the sobbing little six year old out to follow his mother and tried not to look too relieved. Ah, a normal night in the House of Spook. When they were gone, I, along with Sasuke and Naruto, shut the doors for the night once more.

Standing in the foyer for a moment or so, we soon heard the click-clacking of Ms. Mitarashi's high heels, and by the sound of them, approaching fast. This alarmed me. She sounded like she was in a hurry. Or angry…

She rounded the corner of the 'employees only' room, and when she saw us, gave me and Naruto a furious glare. Worse than the one earlier that evening.

"Sasuke, could you excuse Soru, Naruto and I for a moment? We need to talk." Sasuke smirked and gave us both, 'you're-so-doomed' looks, and gladly exited into the living room. I turned my gaze to Ms. Mitarashi's eyes.

"Front and center you both!! Don't just stand there looking lost! Front and freakin' center!!!!" She was definitely angry. I saw that Naruto was just as frightened as me, and we both quickly moved to stand side by side, shoulders an inch away from each other. I certainly felt as doomed as Sasuke's look had told me I was.

After glaring at us both in turn for a bit, Ms. Mitarashi snarled, "Well?! Explain yourselves!!! Why have you two been sneaking around here at night?! And why didn't your parents know?!"

Naruto cautiously raised a hand, saying, "We can explain. We just…well, we've been visiting Gaara."

To my surprise, Ms. Mitarashi growled, "Why in the hell would you do that?! He's a fricking wax dummy!" I pondered for a minute. Didn't she know about Gaara? She _was_ his escort away from his hometown..

Before I could help myself, I said, "No he isn't, and neither are Temari or Kankuro! You know that!"

DOOM. Oh dear, what had I done? I glanced at Naruto to see his distraught expression, and then turned my attention to Ms. Mitarashi. Astounded, I had never seen or imagined her looking astounded. But here she was with eyes wider than I thought they could go.

"Um, I mean, well, it's…I mean………..heh, I can explain." I was saying, when came a wonderful voice from the living room doorway.

"No need. I'm sure we can do much better."

We turned to see the three vampires standing there, my rescuers for the moment.

"Gaara. Temari. Kankuro. What is the meaning of this?! You've just revealed yourselves to that boy in there," she pointed into the living room to where Sasuke probably was, "and these two! IDIOTS!!! What are you thinking?! What's the purpose of this?!"

Gaara calmly held up a hand, signaling for her to be quiet, but she hadn't quite blown off the steam yet, and this only rewarded him with another harsh scolding, "Don't you raise your hand at me like that, you insolent brat!!! You're the smartest of you three stooges, I thought you had more sense than to pull a stunt like this!! Apparently I was _damn_ wrong!!!"

Ms. Mitarashi had flown into a tizzy, but Gaara's face never changed. He tried again.

"Anko. Enough. They know. Even the one in the other room knows. It's not a reason to panic." He said patiently. I was scared. The last person who talked to her like that was probably hung upside down and poked with a stick non-stop for awhile.

Ms. Mitarashi still looked angry, but the volume of her voice lowered considerably. "Know? They know??? What the-? Are you-? Are…what…" she paused for a second, then, "IDIOT!!! Why do they know?! And for how long?!"

"Since the first night this carnival has opened. Let me explain a bit more." Gaara inhaled, "That night, I had moved from my original spot. I needed to move and stretch, as anyone would. To my misfortune, this one came in the library," he gestured at me, "She found that I wasn't present. I knew there was no way to cover up for this mistake, and showed myself to her, planning to frighten her enough to keep her from telling everyone. No one would have believed her anyway, you know that."

After his speech, Ms. Mitarashi frowned and sighed. She looked at him for another few seconds, then said, "You know you're an idiot, right?" He nodded.

"Why were you here at all?" She asked me, "You were supposed to have left!" I gulped and said, "I was double checking things." She gave an almighty sigh. "Did I tell you to double check everything?!" I shook my head and told her, "No, but I thought it was a good idea."

She then questioned Temari and Kankuro, "What about you idiots?"

The two grinned, and Temari took up explaining, "You know that we have, of course, been searching for Gaara for a long time, correct? Well, we finally found him. He told us about these interesting people he had met. But soon after we arrived, none other than little Soru over there ran in and slammed right into Kankuro. We talked a bit, chatted some, got to know each other, the usual."

She finished, and Kankuro winked, saying, "Come on, Anko. They're trustworthy. Especially the little sweetcake." He then winked at me. Inside, I didn't know whether I wanted to cringe or giggle. Nobody had ever called me that before.

"Aw, Kankuro, don't embarrass Naruto like that, he'll blush!" I crooned, and Naruto turned to me and shouted, "HEY!!" while Temari let out a burst of laughter. I couldn't help it and began to laugh, too.

"Okay, all of you shut up!" ordered Ms. Mitarashi and we did her bidding. She glared at all of us, each in turn.

Sighing, she asked, "You're sure they're trustworthy? Even if no one would believe them, it's not a risk to take."

Temari and Kankuro answered back with, "Yeah, definitely," and Gaara nodded. I wondered if I should ask if Sasuke was trustworthy, but that didn't seem too wise. Eventually, Ms. Mitarashi calmed down. She gave Naruto and me final scowls before saying, "Alright, if they say I can trust you two with the information, then I believe them. But if I get one hint that you guys are spreading the word that a trio of vampires and their cohort are here, you lose your jobs, and I know how your parents are. Wont get off too easy from them if you get fired now, eh?"

My blonde friend and I nodded at her, assuring her as much as we could that we would be perfect little angels. Seemingly satisfied, she nodded at us, and abruptly left. I was taken aback by her departure. That was it? Once all was said and done, she just left? Well, what position was I in to complain?

I whirled around to face my dearest vampires, smiling from ear to ear. "Thanks so much you guys!" I cried, hugging Temari and Gaara.

"Hey, don't I get a hug, too?" came a purposely dejected-sounding voice, and I looked at Kankuro, who was pretending to pout. I tapped my chin with a finger, acting as if I was thinking real hard about it.

"Alright, I suppose you did help out. Naruto, give him a hug." I commanded, and he yelled out, "What?! Why are you always picking on me, Soru?! YOU hug him!"

"No, you, fox-boy!"

"No, you, weirdo-girl!"

"No, you, too-hyperactive-for-your-own-good-boy!"

"No, you, right back at ya!"

"I don't wanna hug him!"

"Yes you do!"

"Of course she does."

"You stay outta this, pervert!"

In our bickering session, Temari and Gaara stood to the side, watching us toss insults back at one another. Suddenly, Temari, said, "Wait, who exactly _is_ that guy in the other room?"

The arguing stopped, and Naruto and I grinned at each other. Temari and Kankuro still hadn't met Sasuke!

**Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

**Me: Bet you can guess what's going to happen next!**

**Soru: We storm the town with our popcorn army!**

**Me: No, that's later, dear. Ahem…Naruto?**

**Naruto: Yeah?**

**Me: Go ahead.**

**Naruto:……what?**

**Me: -headdesk-**

**Kankuro: She means, tell people to review, please.**

**Naruto: OH! Okay then! Ahem, re-**

**Kankuro: I already did, ha!**

**Naruto: Why you-!**

**-battle-**

**Me: Do as the perv said, please and thank you! ^_^**

**Kankuro: HEY!!!**

**Me: Oh, and by the way! Did you like my little Christmas special? I know it isn't Christmas yet, but I just couldn't wait to type it and put it up! So yeah. Oh, and I **_**seriously**_** need to update my other story, so the next chapter for this might be a bit delayed again. Sorry for any inconvenience. Buh-bye now!**


	9. Alas! Confrontation!

**I now offer you a bit of knowledge:**

"**You're not doing jack-crap over there, do the dang dodo bird!"-classmate of mine (details in my profile)**

**Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

_In our bickering session, Temari and Gaara stood to the side, watching us toss insults back at one another. Suddenly, Temari, said, "Wait, who exactly is that guy in the other room?" _

_The arguing stopped, and Naruto and I grinned at each other. Temari and Kankuro still hadn't met Sasuke!_

**Soru's POV**

I waved my hand rapidly towards the living room entryway, saying, "C'mon, you guys, meet Sasuke, meet Sasuke!!! You might like him, you might not, and if you don't…well, please toss him across the house a few times for us will you?"

Temari raised her eyebrows, amused. Kankuro pretended to crack his knuckles and said, "Sure thing."

Giggling a bit, I made sure Naruto and Gaara were still behind us, and saw my blonde haired friend pulling the red haired one by the wrist. The red haired one didn't seem to enjoy such a thing, however, and leaned in the opposite direction like a stubborn mule while showing his fangs to translate how mildly annoyed he was. The image made me giggle even more. **(a/n: seriously, picture it, it's great!)**

I strutted into the living room and saw my ebony haired classmate resting against a wall near the window, staring out of it with his arms crossed. He had opened the window a smidge and the breeze was playing with his hair while his face maintained a calm and controlled expression. Well, I suppose I could see what the fangirls saw in his looks…

"Yo, Duck-Butt-Head, someone wants to meet you." I announced buoyantly, and the dark haired male gave me an annoyed glance.

"Great," he said in his usual slow and boring tone of voice as he continued to look at me as if I was the gum stuck on the bottom of his shoe. No seriously, he unknowingly had gum stuck on the bottom of his shoe at that moment, courtesy of Naruto. I saw him raise an eyebrow at something past my shoulder, and I hoped that Temari and Kankuro were glaring at him from behind me.

I side-stepped so that Sasuke and Gaara's two siblings could see (translation: sneer, smirk, glare, etc.) each other better, and took it upon myself to make introductions. However, I was interrupted by a hyperactive blonde, and just decided to let him take over. When it came to talking over each other, Naruto was champion. Hmph, loud-mouth.

"Teme, this is Kankuro," he pointed at the brunette boy, who only grunted out, "Heh, yeah, hi," then Naruto pointed at Temari, saying, "and this chick is Temari! They're Gaara's brother and sister!"

Temari raised a hand in a sarcastic salute of a 'hello', and gave Sasuke a small smirk. Kankuro raised an eyebrow at the youngest Uchiha, who was glaring at the two of them in a cocky way. Kankuro had never liked brats, and if this one started any crap, he wasn't going to take it. Not at all.

Sasuke stared for a moment or so, still frowning, then remarked, "Joy. More vampires. Just what we need." His frown became deeper and I couldn't help but frown myself. Was it so impossible to be polite?! My eyes darted over to the older siblings, whom had lost their sneers which were now replaced by snarling expressions.

"Hey, watch it, kid." growled Kankuro.

"You'd better control that mouth of yours." Temari warned Duck-Butt-Head.

The two certainly could give off a threatening vibe when ticked off, and I was reminded of the first night that I'd met Gaara. I was perfectly happy to not be on the receiving end of their vampiric wrath. I stood with my hands folded behind my back, observing the scene play out in front of Gaara, Naruto, and I.

Sasuke didn't seem to be backing down any time soon. Folding his arms across his chest, he face the siblings with an air of haughtiness. "And why should I? What are you two going to do? Suck my blood?" He dismissed them with a flick of the hand.

Temari scoffed and retorted, "We don't want to suck your blood. It would taste too disgusting anyway."

"Yeah, I never had much of a taste for douchebag." said Kankuro. He put his hands behind his head in a relaxed position and turned to his sister. "What do you think, sis? What do we normally do with douchebags?"

Temari returned his grin, and pounced. And I mean literally pounced. It was pretty cool to watch as the vampiress leaped with the grace and lithe of a feline, and latched her hands on Sasuke's upper arms. It was so fast that he had no time to react, and he soon found himself struggling as Temari whipped around to his back, pinning his arms to his sides.

"Hey, wha-! Get your hands off me, Bat Bitch!" he squawked, kicking and lunging as he tried to escape, but to no avail.

Kankuro strode slowly over to them, making a show of hitting his fist into his palm. Once he was right in front of Duck-Butt-Head, he grabbed a handful of the collar of Sasuke's uniform, lifting the younger male up so he could get a good right-hook to the chin. Sasuke, meanwhile, was still trying, fruitlessly, to get out of Temari's clutches, all the while glaring at Kankuro.

Bringing his arm back until his fist was almost behind his shoulder, Kankuro smirked, and was about to teach Sasuke a lesson, when the front doors opened with bangs as a disheveled Ms. Mitarashi stormed in.

"I knew I left it here somewhere..." she was muttering softly, her eyes going back and forth at a dizzying pace as she searched for whatever she'd lost. She entered the living room, and brought her gaze up to us, and she froze.

"Oh, for the love of stinking-!!! Temari, let the boy go! Kankuro, back the hell off! Sasuke, I know you did something to illicit this! All of you just calm the hell DOWN!!!" she raged, and I knew she was coming close to saying something different than 'hell' a few times.

She raked her eyes over all of us, and barked, "I can't leave you brats alone for, what, five seconds without you guys trying to eat each other!!!!" she stopped for a moment, and added, "No offence, Gaara, Temari, Kankuro."

The three siblings waved it off.

Again, she started scolding us in the classic Mitarashi way. "Enough of the crap! I _can_ and_ will_ put you all in time out!!! You're certainly acting like you're just the age for me to do that!! Think I can't?! Well, you better bet your asses that I sure as hell can, and _WILL_!!! SO CALM THE F-.........er, HELL DOWN!!!" After a moment of seething glaring, she stormed into the kitchen.

We all stared at the doorway for a second or two, before facing each other again.

"I'm out of here." Sasuke grumbled, and walked towards the exit. Once he was in the doorway leading to the large foyer, he turned, and flipped both Kankuro and Temari off with both hands, then made his escape.

"Little son of a-! If I ever get my hands on him when Anko's not around, I'll kick his tiny ass!" Kankuro snarled, furious. Temari looked like she was thinking the same thing.

I looked around at our unusual little group, then piped up, "That went well!"

Kankuro gave me a slightly apathetic look while Temari rolled her eyes. Not in the mood for humor, I see. Naruto chipped in, "No, that went awesome! You guys and your awesome vampire powers! Can you teach me?!" he was bouncing on the balls of his toes in energy.

"Sure, just let us give you a little nip." Kankuro said, showing one slender white fang on the edge of his bottom lip. Naruto backed away a little. Nope, not today.

"So, wait a minute," the blonde boy started again, "You guys actually _drink blood_?!" The color drained from his face for a second, and I secretly wondered the same thing.

"Well, yeah, how do you think we survive?" Temari said, "I mean, we don't go hunting down humans or anything. In fact, we just live off the wildlife here in the forest. This place is abundant with cute little animals to rip apart." she ended with a chuckle. I giggled nervously. Well now, if we just aren't sadistic little balls of sunshine!

I suppose that explained things, though I'd never really thought about it. I really hated how ditzy I could be sometimes.

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**Me: Let me just say one thing: I AM SO FLIPPING SORRY!!! I have not updated in almost a year! I wouldn't be surprised if you guys hated me! School started, I got the worst case of writer's block, and I am just so sorry! Yes, this chapter is a little shorter than the others, but I promise I'm already working on the next one! Please forgive my undeserving soul!**


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